Oct. 15, 2012

STANFORD, Calif. - Freshman driver Bret Bonanni of the No. 5 Stanford men's water polo team was named MPSF/KAP 7 Player of the Week, the conference announced Monday.

It is the first MPSF weekly honor for the Cardinal this season.

Bonanni netted a pair of hat tricks over the weekend, scoring six goals as the fifth-ranked Cardinal (8-3, 2-1 MPSF) picked up its first MPSF victories of the campaign with wins of 9-7 and 11-6 at No. 2 UC Santa Barbara and No. 8 Pepperdine, respectively.

On the year Bonanni ranks second on the team with 26 goals over 11 games, while his 2.36 goals per game average ranks (PLACE) amongst MPSF players.

The Huntington Beach native scored twice in the opening half against second-ranked UC Santa Barbara, helping Stanford take quick control of the contest with a 7-2 halftime advantage. His third of the game came with 46 seconds left in the third period, squelching a two-goal Gaucho run to give Stanford an 8-4 lead.

Sunday at Pepperdine, Bonanni scored all three of his goals in the first half, netting Stanford's two first-period goals before collecting his third 12 seconds before halftime to give the Cardinal a 6-3 halftime edge.

Stanford keeps its travels local this weekend, first heading to Berkeley for the Big Splash against California Saturday at 9:30 a.m. on the Pac-12 Networks. Sunday, the Cardinal heads to Santa Clara for the Rodeo Tournament where it takes on Bucknell at 8 a.m. and Air Force at 12 p.m.