Today, No. 2-ranked men’s water polo (13-1) will square off against Wagner (10-9) in Avery Aquatic Center. On Sunday, the team will then face No. 6 Pacific (8-7) at home.

These out-of-conference matches follow Stanford’s heartbreaking loss to No. 3 USC (22-1) in the final seconds of the final game of the MPSF Invitational meet last weekend. As a result, the team is poised to come back with a vengeance.

The high-powered Cardinal offense is led by drivers junior Bennett Williams and sophomore Tyler Abramson, and sophomore 2M Ben Hallock. They have 37, 36 and 35 goals, respectively, which makes up more than half of the teams total goals for the season. Williams was all over the Trojans’ goal last Sunday, netting four of Stanford’s nine scores.

In perfect compliment to their offense, Stanford’s veteran senior goalkeeper Oliver Lewis heads an ironclad defense. Lewis posts a strong 6.48 goals-against average. The defense as a whole checks opponents to a stifling 6.93 goals per game.

This will be the first meeting of the year between the Cardinal and Wagner, who is sliding on a two-loss streak. Wagner has not fared well against ranked teams this season; all eight of their losses come from teams ranked 18 or higher.

Stanford encountered the University of the Pacific just last weekend at the MPSF Invitational. The match concluded with the Cardinal staving off the Tigers 14-13. The game had no reason to be so close, but Lewis was forced out of the goal following two yellow cards. Williams and Hallock combined for half of the goals that game.

Winning these upcoming matches will aid Stanford in regaining some of their lost momentum, and hopefully it will lead to a sweep of the rest of the season. Tonight’s game against Wagner will start at 7 p.m. Sunday’s game will begin at 1 p.m.

Contact James Hemker at jahemker ‘at’ stanford.edu.