Nov. 24, 2010

MPSF TOURNAMENT (NOV. 26-28)
Friday, Nov. 19 - Stanford, Calif.
- vs. - UC Irvine (16-7) - 3 p.m.

Weekly Notes

STANFORD, Calif. - The Stanford men's water polo team (13-7), seeded fourth in this weekend's MPSF Tournament, opens up play for the MPSF title and an automatic berth to the National Collegiate Championship Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. at Avery Aquatic Center.

Parking Advisory For MPSF Tournament Weekend
With multiple sporting events going on at Stanford this weekend simultaneously with the MPSF Tournament, Stanford Athletics would like to issue a parking advisory for fans planning to come to this weekend's tournament.

Stanford Hosts 2010 MPSF Tournament
Stanford is hosting the 2010 MPSF Men's Water Polo Championship over Thanksgiving Weekend, Nov. 26-28 at Avery Aquatic Center. Fans can purchase tickets as all-session passes are now available on www.gostanford.com or by calling 1-800-STANFORD.

Parking for Friday and Sunday will be available in Parking Structure #5 (Wilbur Lot), in parts of the Varsity Lot, adjacent to the Track & Field Stadium and in Galvez Field. Saturday, free parking will be available in Parking Structure #5 (Wilbur Lot).

About The Opposition
UC Irvine (16-7) enters the MPSF Tournament as the fifth seed following an MPSF regular season in which the Anteaters went 4-4. The Anteaters enter Friday's quarterfinal matchup having lost four of its past seven contests.

The Anteaters are led on offense by the play of Brandon Johnson (42 goals), Griffin Lerman (38) and Doug Lindsey (37). On defense, goalkeeper Matt Johnson averages 7.32 saves per game.

Last Time Out
Stanford ended the regular season with a 9-6 loss in The Big Splash against No. 1 California last Friday night.

Jeffrey Schwimer scored twice for the Cardinal, which had its five-game winning streak in the Big Splash snapped with the loss. Brian Pingree made 10 saves in the contest for Stanford.

In The National Rankings
Stanford remained No. 5 spot in this week's Varsity Top 20 Poll after dropping a 9-6 decision to No. 1 California.

Last Time We Met
Friday's quarterfinal between Stanford and UC Irvine will be just the second time that the two schools have met in 2010. The Cardinal put out a lock-down defensive effort in the first meeting, back on Nov. 7, limiting the Anteaters to just a pair of goals in a 7-2 victory.

Jacob Smith and Sage Wright each tallied a hat trick in the win while goalie Brian Pingree stopped 11 UC Irvine shots. Pingree and the Cardinal defense managed to hold the Anteaters off of the scoreboard for the entire first half and for the first 20:23 of the game overall before UC Irvine managed a goal midway through the third period.

Stanford And The MPSF Tournament
Stanford has captured the MPSF Tournament title four times (1994, 1998, 2001, 2004) since 1992, and overall has reached the championship game 10 times in that span. The Cardinal, though, have not reached the title game since 2005, placing fourth in 2006, 2007 and 2009, and taking third place in 2008.

Road To The MPSF Championship
It takes three straight wins to win the MPSF Tournament, and Stanford's path to the crown will potentially include the top-ranked team in the country, California.

Stanford opens the tournament against UC Irvine in the quarterfinals. Should the Cardinal win, it will advance to Saturday's semifinal round, where at 1:30 p.m. it will face the winner of Friday's opener between top seed California and eighth-seeded UC Santa Barbara. From there, it would be on to Sunday's championship game at 3 p.m.

Leading The Team In Scoring
Junior driver Jacob Smith heads into the MPSF Tournament weekend with 47 goals on the year, just three away from recording the first 50-goal season of his career. Should Smith reach the mark, it would be the third straight season that a Stanford player has reached the 50-goal mark, following Drac and Janson Wigo (55 goals each) in 2008 and Drac Wigo in 2009 (58 goals).

Among The MPSF Leaders
Stanford men's water polo is represented among the top-20 scorers in the MPSF rankings through Nov. 1. Jacob Smith is third in the conference with 2.35 goals per game while Jeffrey Schwimer and Sage Wright are tied for 17th with 1.50 goals per game. Paul Rudolph's 1.45 goals per game figure is tied for 20th.

Goalie Brian Pingree is fourth in the conference with 7.40 saves per game and tied for fourth with a 7.27 goals-against average. On the team level, Stanford ranks third in total offense scoring 11.15 goals per game and fourth in total defense, allowing 7.30 goals a game.