Palo Alto, Calif. - The No. 4 Pacific men's water polo continued its recent dominance of Stanford, with an 11-10 win over the No. 6 Cardinal on Saturday. Pacific led 10-6 headed into the fourth and held on for the win behind two goals each from Aleksandar Petrovci, Engin Ege Colak, Luis Araya, Devon Thumwood and Ikko Saito.
Derek Clappis also scored for the Tigers, while Alen Osmanovic made six saves with two steals.
Pacific has won five of the last seven meetings with Stanford dating back to 2013.
The Tigers improve to 16-6 overall on the season, while Stanford falls to 12-5.
Colak opened the scoring off a Petrovic assist, and Saito stretched the lead to 2-0 with a power-play goal. Araya's first made it a 3-0 Pacific lead, before Adam Warmoth answered with a 6-on-5 goal for the Cardinal. Blake Parrish scored to pull Stanford within 3-2 at the end of the first quarter.
In the second, Parrish scored back-to-back goals as the Cardinal led 4-3 before the Tigers unloaded a four-goal run to close the half. Petrovic finished off a Saito pass to tie the game, while Thumwood gave the Tigers the leadoff off a long pass from Osmanovic. Araya's second goal provided a two-goal cushion, and Saito finished a pass from Andres Schmidt for a 7-4 lead at halftime.
In the third, Parrish and Cody Smith brought the Cardinal within a goal at 7-6, but Petrovic answered off another set-up from Saito, and Thumwood capped a Pacific 6-on-5 with a goal. Clappis added a power-play goal off a Colak pass, and the Tigers led 10-6 after three quarters.
In the fourth, Stanford picked up a pair of goals early in the fourth, with Marco Stanchi and Nelson Perla-Ward tallying even strength, but Colak's goal with 4:46 to play gave the Tigers an 11-8 lead and the Pacific defense clamped down. The Cardinal added a 6-on-5 goal from Smith, and tacked on another power-play goal with a mere nine seconds left as the Tigers coasted home.
Stanford goalie Oliver Lewis posted six saves on the day, with one steal.
Pacific is back in action against San Jose State in the final regular season home game on Friday, Nov. 11, at 7 p.m. The Tigers will play at No. 8 UC Davis next Saturday and host the Golden Coast Conference Championships Nov. 18-20.
