Playing in its first home game since the start of the academic year, the No. 4 Stanford men’s water polo team narrowly defeated No. 11 Long Beach State on Saturday, 6-5.

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Sophomore William Hendle-Katel and the Stanford men’s water polo team face rival USC next Saturday. The men’s squad has come a long way since its struggles early in this season. #gallery http://daily.stanford.edu/image/full/6450
Andrew Davis

Sophomore William Hendle-Katel and the Stanford men’s water polo team face rival USC next Saturday. The men’s squad has come a long way since its struggles early in this season.

In a game-long defensive struggle, the difference proved to be freshman utility Drac Wigo’s goal with just over seven minutes left. Junior goalkeeper Sandy Hohener, iced the match with a save as time expired, preventing any overtime prospects.

Wigo led the team with two goals, while senior captains Tyler Drake and JJ Garton, redshirt freshman two-meter Ryan McCarthy and freshman utility Janson Wigo all chipped in with a goal each.

The win extended the Cardinal’s win-streak to five games, but the team was not necessarily satisfied with its effort.

“We didn’t play our best water polo,” said junior two-meter defender Peter Finlayson. “We feel that we should have beaten these guys by more than we did, especially since we were playing at home. Long Beach came out pretty fired up and it seemed like we never quite got going. We expect more of ourselves than we showed.”

Stanford had a 5-2 lead at halftime, but the Cardinal let the 49ers creep back into the contest. Long Beach State scored two unanswered goals in the third period to cut the lead to one. Stanford’s offense was struggling, but the defense and goalkeeping by Hohener and sophomore Jimmie Sandman kept the 49ers at bay. Each team scored only once in the fourth period.

The pace of the game was unlike any other Stanford has experienced so far this season. An average match for the Cardinal this season has usually ended up with 17-20 combined goals. The style of Saturday’s game harkens back to last year’s championship game, when Stanford lost to Southern California 3-2.

Despite Stanford’s offensive struggles, holding any team — let alone a top 15 team — to just five goals is a defensive achievement.

“Defensively we did pretty well, but we still need to tighten up a few areas,” Finlayson said.

While six goals is certainly not much to show for offensively, Stanford was getting its fair share of shots. But Long Beach State goalie Steve MacKenzie kept his team in the game as he recorded 14 saves.

The Cardinal followed up Saturday’s narrow victory with a 13-5 blowout win against UC-Santa Cruz in Santa Cruz. Limited information was available at press time.

Now sporting a record of 12-5 with a MPSF record of 3-1, prospects for restoring last year’s success seem brighter.

“The important thing is that we learn from this game and come out fired up against USC next Saturday,” Finlayson said. “We expect more of ourselves than we showed today. We need to move forward with intensity and selfless play — that’s what will make us the great team we feel we are and can be.”