Sept. 9, 2008

STANFORD, Calif. - To anyone else, a 17-8 overall record, a 5-3 mark and third-place finish in the ever-competitive Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, and a final national ranking of No. 4 would be acceptable. But for the Stanford men's water polo team last season, it was not enough to get it into the four-team NCAA Championship field, a place the 2008 Stanford squad expects to be when it hosts the national championship tournament at Avery Aquatic Center once again this fall.

"I think missing last year's NCAA Championships, which we hosted, is a big motivation," said head coach John Vargas, who enters his seventh season at the helm of the Stanford program, through which he owns a record of 123-39 (.759). "Our offseason went really well because of that. To host the NCAA Championships and not be a part of it, I know a lot of guys don't want that to happen again."

Among the returners for Stanford who will look to get back to the NCAA Championship are four 2007 ACWPC All-Americans, as well as the team's top five scorers. The Cardinal also returns experienced goalkeepers in redshirt junior Jimmie Sandman and sophomore Brian Pingree, as well as a pair of sophomores, Alex Pulido and Jeffrey Schwimer, who posted solid debuts in 2007.

Offensively, Stanford returns 12 players who accounted for 221 of the team's 263 goals in 2007, a staggering 84 percent of the team's scoring. Considering the amount of firepower coming back for 2008, the Stanford offense should prove to be more than a handful to contain.

"This year will be a real fun year as far as how we're going to play offensively," Vargas noted about the Cardinal attack. "It's going to be a fast-paced game, a very dynamic offense. With those returning players and the experience and chemistry that they have, we'll have a great product and it will be a lot of fun to watch us play."

Included among the returners is first-team All-American Sage Wright, a junior driver who enjoyed a breakout 2007 season, co-leading the Cardinal with 33 goals and twice claiming MPSF Player of the Week honors.

"Sage has quietly become one of the best players in the country. It's interesting how smoothly things go when Sage is in the game. He really guides our offense to a point where we are able to settle back in our defense. We'll see some great things out of Sage as a junior," said Vargas.

While Wright, along with the Wigo brothers, Drac and Janson, who each scored 32 goals last season en route to All-America honorable mention recognition, handle the perimeter, second-team All-American Will Hindle-Katel will provide the Cardinal's toughness and grit at the two-meter position.

Fellow scoring co-leader and 2007 second-team All-American Will Hindle-Katel hopes to cap his collegiate career with Stanford's 11th national title

Hindle-Katel, who equaled Wright with 33 goals last season, has scored at least 30 goals in each of his three years on The Farm. He will use his 6-6 frame to be a force and a terror to opposing defenses. As one of four seniors on the squad, Hindle-Katel will also provide leadership to the Cardinal through his veteran presence inside and outside of the pool.

Another pair of returners, junior Ryan McCarthy (15 goals in 2007) and Schwimer (nine goals), will share time with Hindle-Katel at the two-meter position. Each player enjoyed a fine season in 2007, scoring key goals and improving at arguably the most brutal position in the game.

"Will brings a lot of leadership and experience to the two-meter position and to our program," Vargas said. "We also have two other players who will be rotating in, Ryan McCarthy and Jeffrey Schwimer. Along with in the goal, I feel that two-meters is one of the strong points of our team."

Adding depth for the Stanford offense will be seniors Andrew Drake (28 goals in 2007), Steven Wright (five goals), and Chris Jacobson (seven goals), along with redshirt sophomores Cody Wiesen (eight goals) and Will Smith (seven goals).

Vargas also points to goalkeeping, which is in the capable hands of Jimmie Sandman, returning after redshirting the 2007 season, as a strong point of this team. Over his first two seasons, Sandman shared time in the cage, making 103 saves as a sophomore in 2006, including a pair of 12-save performances against Navy and UC Davis.

Goalkeeper Jimmie Sandman returns in 2008 to take over in the cage for the Cardinal

"Jimmie will be the key to our success, I believe he is one of the best, if not the best, goalies in the country," Vargas said. "You win championships with defense, and he'll be the catalyst for our great defense. Jimmie is a very athletic goalie and he is the reason we will have a shot at being one of the top teams in the country."

Pingree appeared in eight games last year and made 26 saves. The experience gained in outings such as a 10-save performance against Pacific, and a seven-save outing against UC Santa Cruz, adds further depth to Stanford's goalkeeper position.

Also looking to make an impact on Stanford's fortunes is a seven-man freshman class, featuring driver Jacob Smith, a member of the U.S. National Team's "B" Training roster, and utility Peter Sefton. Sefton, a member of the U.S. Youth National Team that competed in Croatia in 2007, was named the 2008 San Diego Union Tribune Student-Athlete of the Year and helped lead the La Jolla High water polo team to the state tournament, while Smith, from Coronado High School, scored 83 goals in 2007 en route to earning San Diego Union-Tribune Player of the Year honors and leading CHS to its first CIF San Diego Section Division II title in five years.

"I'm anticipating that Jacob will come in and contribute right away, one of the very few freshmen that has the ability to do that this year," Vargas said. "This is one of our stronger freshman classes, they're going to elevate our program right away."

The rest of the Stanford freshman class consists of drivers Alex Avery (Atherton, Calif.), Porter Kalbus (Danville, Calif.), Tim Norton (Menlo Park, Calif.) and Travis Noll (Tustin, Calif.), and two-meters Ryan Brown (San Jose, Calif.) and Andrew LaForge (Anaheim, Calif.).

The Cardinal faces foes both new and familiar in 2008. On top of the annual slate of MPSF opponents, Stanford will travel to Princeton to begin the season against five East Coast opponents at the Princeton Tournament, opening with Johns Hopkins Sept. 12 at 3:15 p.m. PT.

Stanford will open its five-game home regular-season schedule Friday night, Sept. 19 at 6 p.m. against Air Force.

The slate also includes visits to the prestigious NorCal and SoCal Tournaments, which will afford Stanford the opportinity to capture key victories that strengthen the Cardinal's case for a postseason bid.

Picked to finish second in the MPSF in the preseason poll, Stanford will have the chance to secure the league's automatic postseason bid at the MPSF Tournament in Los Angeles from Nov. 28-30.

"I think we match up really well with the rest of the teams in the MPSF," Vargas noted. "Our schedule is tough, with a lot of away games this year, but with this group of guys, we have great experience, so we'll be prepared. But I feel optimistic about our season and our chances. We've got the guys to do well now."

"The guys know how important every single game is, and the experience from last year will definitely carry over this year," Vargas said.