Stockton, Calif. - The No. 5 Pacific men's water polo team pulled away from No. 4 Stanford, 11-7, Sunday at Chris Kjeldsen Pool for a statement win. Devon Thumwood scored three times while Alex Obert and Aleksandar Petrovic each added two.
Casey Fleming, Krisztian Laczkovics, Ikko Saito and Ben Stevenson also scored for the Tigers.
Pacific is 16-2 overall, 3-0 in MPSF action, but has remained at number 5 in the polls as the Tigers first 14 wins came against teams outside the top five. Pacific is unbeaten in regulation, but had yet to pass the top four litmus test. Until Sunday.
The Tigers outscored Stanford 5-1 in the second half. For the game, Pacific's defense forced 14 Stanford turnovers, recorded six steals and seven field blocks, and killed off six of seven Stanford power play opportunities.
Stanford led early as Jackson Kimbell opened the scoring off an assist from Bret Bonanni. After Obert scored two minutes later off a pass from Fleming, the Cardinal regained the lead on a goal from Adam Abdulhamid.
Thumwood's first goal came on the power play off an assist from Stevenson to knot the game at 2-2 with 1:48 to go in the first. Obert then finished with 17 seconds left in the quarter for a 3-2 Pacific lead.
In the second, Adbulhhamid tied the score at 3-3 on the power play, unassisted following a quick restart. But Saito answered for the Tigers on a Pacific 6-on-5. B.J. Churnside and Reid Chase provided the Cardinal with their last lead at 5-4 with 1:22 remaining.
But it was all Pacific after that as Fleming ripped home a 6-on-5 opportunity, and then set up Petrovic for a 6-5 Pacific lead with 10 seconds left. However, Stanford drew up a play for Bonanni, spreading the pool on the restart with goalkeeper Drew Holland putting the ball back in play with just a few seconds left. His long pass was caught by Bonnani six meters away and Bonanni spun and scored with one second left in the half to tie the game at six.
In the third, Petrovic earned a five-meter penalty and powered the ball into the back of the cage to give Pacific the lead for good.
Thumwood's second provided an 8-6 lead. Fleming drew an exclusion but Holland recorded a save to curb Pacific's momentum Churnside tallied with 1:02 to go in the third, but the Tigers restored a two-goal lead as Thumwood completed the hat trick with two seconds left in the quarter for a 9-7 Pacific lead.
The Tigers locked down defensively in the fourth, as Moore posted four saves and the Tigers added three field blocks. On a 6-on-5 advantage, Laczkovics beat Holland off a pass from Petrovic for a 10-7 lead with 2:59 to play. The Tigers recorded five defensive stops and with the pool spread, Obert hit Stevenson for an open look at Stevenson iced the game with 19 seconds left.
Stanford falls to 14-6 overall, 0-3 in MPSF action.
The Tigers will visit San Jose State on Thursday before returning to Kjeldsen Pool on Friday for a 3:30 game against No. 13 Bucknell before a showdown with No. 2 Southern Cal on Sunday at noon.
