Set to play three games in four days, the No. 4 Stanford men’s water polo team got its weekend off to the right start yesterday after dominating UC-Santa Cruz, 22-5. The busy, four-day slate of competition will end at Stockton against University of the Pacific on Sunday.

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The Cardinal ran away with yesterday’s match against UCSC, ending the match on a 17-2 scoring run. Stanford will have to keep up its strong play if it hopes to rebound in the rankings from last week’s 9-7 loss to UCSB. #gallery http://daily.stanford.edu/image/full/8131
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The Cardinal ran away with yesterday’s match against UCSC, ending the match on a 17-2 scoring run. Stanford will have to keep up its strong play if it hopes to rebound in the rankings from last week’s 9-7 loss to UCSB.

The Cardinal won yesterday’s match going away, finishing on a 17-2 run. The team was highlighted by the efforts of junior utility Will Hindle-Katel, who netted four goals; freshman driver Cody Wiesen and sophomore utility Janson Wigo each had hat tricks of their own to add to the cause.

The Cardinal fell two spots in the national rankings last week after its poor performance against UCSB. Stanford currently sits behind fellow MPSF squads No.1 USC, No.2 Cal and No.3 UCLA as the NCAA championships loom in less than a month. The team now stands with an overall record of 11-6.

“Basically the difference is that all the games we play count towards [the overall] ranking,” senior two-meter defender Peter Finlayson said. “But the games we play in MPSF matter for seedings, so if you have a good record against teams targeted in the MPSF, then you will have automatic inclusion in the NCAA tournament.”

“Our overall record in the MPSF isn’t that great,” Finlayson continued. “But it’s not bad enough to get us automatically disqualified, so we can’t afford any more slip ups.”

Stanford’s 11-7 win over No.5 Pepperdine last Sunday stopped a three-game slide in MPSF games.

“After the last two losses, coach Vargas has changed up the rotation quite a bit,” Finlayson said. “Ryan McCarthy has been playing a lot and very well. He’s a two meter, so that’s great. We’re just trying to rotate in more people to keep everybody fresh.”

The team has received significant contributions from young players this season. Freshman goalkeeper Brian Pingree has aided senior Sandy Hohener with solid goaltending, while freshman driver Alex Pulido and freshman utility Jeffrey Schwimmer have seen solid play. Pulido has managed to score crucial last minute deciding goals for the Card, including an equalizer against Cal.

Sophomores Ryan McCarthy, Drac Wigo, Janson Wigo, and Sage Wright have all been a huge part of the Cardinal rotation. McCarthy has seen increased playing time and has stepped up very well in the past few games. Both Wigo brothers are mainstays of the team due to their versatility, and Wright was named MPSF player of the week in the first week of October for his efforts.

“We have [had] a lot of talent and even more depth in the past, but we have a lot of freshmen, sophomores and we’re really young this year,” Finlayson said. “We don’t have a senior core that’s playing the bulk of the minutes like last year so that’s a different challenge. This team is one of the most talented I’ve been on, but I believe [it] could be better with experience.”

Fresh off its easy win over the Banana Slugs of UC-Santa Cruz, Stanford will play No. 8 UC-Davis Aggies tomorrow, 1 p.m. at Avery Stadium.