Men’s NCAA Water Polo: #1 Stanford Rolls Over UC Santa Cruz; #2 UCLA Upset By UC Irvine; #5 Pepperdine Crushes UCSB

STANFORD, Cal., Sept. 9. TOP-RANKED and defending national champion Stanford (1-0) made its 2002 debut something of a "laugher" with a 21-5 win over game, but outmanned, U Cal Santa Cruz (0-1) yesterday afternoon at the Cardinal's Avery Aquatic Center.

Stanford took the lead early and never looked back, handing the No. 9 (NCAA Division III) Banana Slugs their initial loss of the season.

Eight players scored at least one goal for the No. 1 Cardinal, with freshman Thomas Hopkins tallying his first collegiate goal to open the scoring. Hopkins, who spent the summer with the U.S. junior National Team, notched the first Cardinal goal of the season a mere 32 seconds into the game.

He added on two more goals on the day, while junior Mike Derse and sophomore Matt Moser led the scoring as each posted a career-high four goals. Sophomore Greg Crum also added three goals for Stanford, while seniors Jeff Nesmith and Jeff Guyman and sophomore Reed Gallogly chalked up two goals apiece and freshman Ryan Caswell scored his first collegiate goal.

Stanford started senior Nick Ellis in goal, but in the second half freshman Chad Taylor made his collegiate debut in the net and posted three saves.

UC Santa Cruz felt the pressure of Stanford's intensity on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball, as the Cardinal out-shot the Banana Slugs, 32-12. Starting UC Santa Cruz keeper Vaughn notched 11 saves while allowing 17 goals in three quarters. Cameron Jouras entered the game for UC Santa Cruz in the fourth quarter and allowed four goals.

Stanford returns to action on Friday, Sept. 13 at UC San Diego before heading to the SoCal Tournament at USC's McDonald's Olympic Swim Stadium on Sept. 14-15. The Cardinal is slated to take on Long Beach State at 12:40 p.m. and UCSD at 5:20 p.m. on Saturday in the opening rounds of the tournament.

Stanford defeated UCLA last season at Avery, 8-5, to win its record ninth NCAA title. It was the eighth champoionship for retiring coach Dante Dettamante, which ties him for most titles won with Cal's Pete Cutino.

This year the Cardinal is guided by former U Cal Irvine All-America John Vargas, who helped lead the Anteaters to the NCAA Championship not quite two
decades ago. More recently Vargas has been head boys' water polo coach at Corona del Mar High in Southern Califronia, where he led the Sea Kings to four CIF Southern Section 4A Championships and three Division II titles — including last year's crown.

Stanford was third at last month's USWPA Nationals and Card Tony Azevedo, last year's NCAA Player of the Year and tourney MVP as a freshman, was also named tourney MVP here. He's one big reason the Cardinal is favored to win the NCAA Championship again this season with the finals to be held for the first time in Los Angeles the initial weekend of December at Loyola-Marymount Univesity.

The Championship has been held more than two dozen times at Long Beach's Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool but never in Los Angeles proper, although the women's NCAA Final Four was held last May at USC — with Stanford triumphing there too over UCLA.

Stanford Scoring: Mike Derse 4, Matt Moser 4, Greg Crum 3, Thomas Hopkins 3, Reed Gallogly 2, Jeff Guyman 2, Jeff Nesmith 2, Ryan Caswell 1.

UCSC Scorers: Mike Webb 3, Devin Gneiting 1, Dave Graner 1.

Goalie Saves: Taylor (Stan) 3, Vaughn (UCSC) 11.

6-on-5: Stanford 3-7, UCSC 0-1.

* * * * *

IRVINE, CA., Sept. 9 .- Sophomore Dreason Barry scored four goals to lead seventh-ranked U Cal Irvine over No. 2 UCLA, 10-7, in the non-conference season opener for both teams at the Anteater Aquatics Complex in Irvine yesterday.

Senior Jeff Powers and sophomore Rick Merlo added three goals each for UCI, which trailed 5-4 at halftime. Powers and Barry each scored twice in the
third period when Irvine scored four unanswered goals. Barry scored with 6:14 left in the third quarter to tie the game, 5-5, and notched an extra-man goal with 2:55 left in the period to give UCI a lead the Anteaters would not relinquish at 6-5. Powers then scored twice in the final 2:16 of the third quarter to boost Irvine's advantage to 8-5.

Senior Matt Flesher and sophomore Brett Ormsby led the Bruins with two goals each. Ormsby's extra-man goal with 4:30 remaining in the second period gave UCLA its 5-4 lead at halftime.

Senior Doug Finfrock had 13 saves in goal for UCI, while senior Brandon Brooks recorded 11 for the Bruins.

Along with Stanford, UCLA will compete in the Southern California Tournament at USC Saturday and Sunday. In pool play Saturday, the Bruins will take on fourth-ranked California at 4:10 pm. This will be Cal's season-opener. In its second match of the day, UCLA will face Navy at 8:50 pm.

— Bill Bell

BOX SCORE – SCORE BY QURTERS

1 2 3 4 — T

UCLA: 4 – 1 – 0 – 2 — 7
UCI: 4 – 0 – 4 – 2 — 10

UCLA: Matt Flesher (2), Brett Ormsby (2), Ted Peck (1), Peter Belden (1),
Josh Hewko (1).

UCI: Dreason Barry (4), Jeff Powers (3), Rick Merlo (3).

Saves: Brandon Brooks (UCLA) 11; Doug Finfrock (UCI) 13.

Records: UCLA, ranked No. 2, 0-1 overall; UC Irvine, ranked No. 7, 1-0 overall

* * * * * * * * * *

MALIBU. AT Malibu Saturday, Pepperdine senior two-meter man Karl Niehaus scored four of his five goals in the second-quarter as No. 5-ranked Pepperdine rolled past No. 9 U Cal Santa Barbara, 15-5 in the season opener for both teams at the Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool — site of the 1984 Olympic water polo
competition.

Junior drivers Jeremy Grubbs and Scott Harvey scored two goals for the Waves along with sophomore utilityman Jesse Smith.

Led by Niehaus' explosive offensive outburst, Pepperdine outscored Santa Barbara 5-1 in the second-quarter to take an 8-4 lead at halftime. The Waves outscored the Gauchos by a 7-1 count after the intermission.

Niehaus scored seven goals all of last year, and could help fill the void created by the loss of first-team All-America Greg Lonzo who was the Waves' leading scorer each of the last three seasons.

"Our superior depth figures to be a strength all season, and that was certainly evident today," said Pepperdine head coach Terry Schroeder, a former U.S. Olympic and national team standout. "We have a deep team, and the guys coming off the bench are experienced and hungry to play."

Sophomore holeman Josh Acosta, junior driver John Ashby, juniortwo-meter man Michael Hausmann and senior driver William Rodriguez each scored one goal for Pepperdine. Ashby and Hausmann were both returning to
active duty after redshirting last season.

Senior goalie Michael Soltis was credited with 10 saves before leaving the game in favor of rookie Justin McCain who added two saves in the fourth
quarter.

UC Santa Barbara had five different players scored one goal, while freshman goalie Sherwin Kim made seven saves.

Pepperdine travels to USC next weekend to compete at the two-day,12-team SoCal Tournament. Action begins next Saturday(September 14) morning and continues through next Sunday (September 15) night. Teams will play two games both days.

BOX SCORE

SCORE BY QUARTERS 1 2 3 4
UC Santa Barbara 3 1 1 0 5
Pepperdine 3 5 4 3 15

UCSB Scoring: Brian Alexander (1), Doug Arthur (1), Ian Christensen (1), Andrew Schoneberger (1), Mark Welch (1)

Pepperdine Scoring: Karl Niehaus (5), Jeremy Grubbs (2), Scott Harvey (2), Jesse Smith (2), Josh Acosta (1), John Ashby (1), Michael Hausmann (1), William Rodriguez (1)

UCSB Goalkeeping: Sherwin Kim; 7 saves and 15 goals allowed

Pepperdine Goalkeeping: Michael Soltis; 10 saves and 5 goals allowed Justin McCain; 2 saves and 0 goals allowed

UC Santa Barbara: 0-1 / Ranked No. 9
Pepperdine: 1-0 / Ranked No. 5

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