WHAT’S NEXT: No. 2 Stanford travels to Davis, Calif. for the Aggie Roundup this Saturday and Sunday at the Schaal Aquatics Center on the campus of UC Davis. The Cardinal will face Concordia (noon) and the host Aggies (4 p.m.) on Saturday, closing out the two-day event with Santa Clara (noon) and San Jose State (4 p.m.) on Sunday.
HOW TO FOLLOW: Fans can log on to UCDavisAggies.com and click on the Aggie Roundup page for updated results and score sheets from each contest.
A LOOK AT THE POLLS: After spending the first two weeks at No. 4, the Cardinal moved up to No. 2 in the Collegiate Water Polo Association national poll this week. Stanford moved ahead of USC (which it defeated 6-5 last weekend) and California in the latest rankings.
NINE IN A ROW: Stanford’s eight wins to open the 2015 season, coupled with its victory over UCSD in the NCAA Third Place game to close the 2014 campaign, gave the Cardinal nine-straight wins. It’s the longest winning streak since Stanford won 11 consecutive contests during the 2013 season.
CHASING THE RECORD: Senior Bret Bonanni enters this weekend’s Aggie Roundup just 34 goals from tying Tony Azevedo’s Stanford and MPSF record of 332 from 2001-04. After concluding his junior season with a conference-leading 96 goals, he has a team-leading 32 goals in Stanford’s first nine games. The senior recorded a career-best nine goals in the season-opening victory over MIT on Sept. 5. Bonanni is the only Cardinal in history to post multiple 90-goal seasons. He recorded five goals in Stanford’s four games in the Kap7 NorCal Invitational last weekend.
MOST GOALS SINCE: Stanford’s 29 goals against MIT on Sept. 5 were its most in a game in nearly three decades, matching the Cardinal’s 29 scores against Harvard in the Brown Invitational on Sept. 26, 1986.
19 IN SIX: Stanford scored at least 19 goals in six straight games (first six games of the season) for the first time in the John Vargas era (dating back to 2002). The Cardinal posted 19 each against St. Francis Brooklyn and Brown, 20 against Bucknell, 21 against Harvard and a season-best 29 against MIT. The streak started with a 20-goal performance against UCSD in the NCAA third-place game on Dec. 7, 2014.
MPSF LEADER: Senior Bret Bonanni (32) leads the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation in scoring, averaging 3.56 goals per game. Redshirt junior Adam Abdulhamid (20) ranks fourth in the league, averaging 2.22 goals per game. Senior Drew Holland ranks third in the MPSF in goals against average at 5.43.
As a team, Stanford ranks second in both scoring (16.67 Goals/Game) and defense (giving up 4.89 Goals/Game).
LAST TIME VS. SANTA CLARA: Santa Clara is the lone team the Cardinal will play this weekend that it has previously faced so far during the 2015 season. Stanford earned an 18-0 win over the Broncos at Avery Aquatic Center last weekend. Senior BJ Churnside had three scores to lead the offense, while sophomore Oliver Lewis played the entire game in the cage with 12 saves to record the shutout.
KAP7 NORCAL INVITATIONAL RECAP: Stanford finished second in the 16-team Kap7 NorCal Invitational last weekend. The Cardinal opened with convincing wins over Santa Clara (18-0) and No. 7 Long Beach State (11-4) to reach the semifinals. In the semifinal round, Stanford defeated No. 2 USC, 6-5, before dropping an 8-7 decision to No. 1 UCLA in the Championship game.
