2026 MWP - Printable Version
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2026 MWP - M T - 09-20-2026
The 2026 Overnight MPSF Invitational Water Polo tournament is ongoing at Stanford this weekend.
Sunday will be a beautiful day. Come see #3 Stanford take on #1 UCLA at 2PM at Avery pool. ($20; $15 student/senior). There is a women's soccer game at 1, so the parking by the stadium will be full.
Today, I first saw #3 Stanford get a too-tight win over #6 Long Beach State by a score of 17-13. It was the first time I had seen them play this year and I wasn't that impressed in this game. The half time score was 8-4, which was good, but LB State played Stanford even in the 2nd half. When I look at the team stats, Stanford had a clear edge.
As I looked over the roster, I found out Stanford's hole player, Alex Gheorge, is listed at 6'3", 335 pounds! Immense, and impossible to move. That isn't fat. While he may not be the fastest swimmer out there, he does have good speed. His hands seem good. He didn't play overly aggressive either.
In previous years, Stanford was mostly a USA-style fast team that got a lot of goals from their speed. Now, it seems they play a European style based on having a big guy in the hole.
Ryan Ohl (Conn.) and Botond Balogh (Hungary) scored 4 goals, James Rozolis-Hill (Calif.) scored 3. Ben Forer (Calif.) and Dimitris Chatzis (Greece) scored 2 each
I guess I didn't really recognize the skill of Stanford's goalie in that first game. He saved 43.5% of the shots on goal (compared to 22.7% for the opposing goalie).
Stanford's shots were often on the goal. 17 of 30 shots scored. 7 of those 13 non-scoring shots were saves, leaving 6 misses.
LB State had 13 of 38 shots that scored. 10 of those 25 non-scoring shots were saves, leaving 15 misses.
Next up was #8 UCSD vs #12 UCI which turned out to be a good game. Early on, I thought UCSD clearly had the better players, but UCI played well. Down 2 at the half, UCI got the lead in the 3rd, but the 3rd wound up tied. UCSD won 11-9.
The first semi-final today was #1 UCLA vs #4 Cal. UCLA got started early with a spread-out offense. UCLA is a very strong team, up 8-3 at the half. But Cal (which brought 22 players) fought back, only down 7-9 at the end of the third, and got close in the 4th, losing 10-11 as a last second shot skipped over the cage. UCLA's offense also uses a strong hole player.
Shooting %: Cal 41.7% (10/24), UCLA 37.9% (11/29)
Save %: Cal 41.2% (7/17) UCLA 50% (10/20)
The second semi-final was #3 Stanford vs #2 USC.
I found out that I underrated Stanford earlier. Stanford was clearly the better team today. BUT, I must say that I felt USC shot extremely poorly for a #2 team. If their shots hadn't missed so often, it would have been a different game.
Stanford's goalie, Bernardo Herzer (Calif.), did a fantastic job of blocking shots. (A number of blocks ricochetted out into the field and so USC got more chances.)
Botond Balogh scored 3 goals, Alex Gheorge (Romania) and Dimitris Chatzis scored 2 each.
USC scored the first goal, but it was mostly Stanford after that.
Stanford was ahead 6-2 after 2 periods, and ahead 10-5 going into the final period.
USC jabbed Stanford with 2 quick counterattack goals consecutively in the 4th, but Stanford still had a 3-goal cushion. Stanford was able to blunt the counterattacks, and gave up a meaningless goal with 9 seconds left.
Shooting %: Stanford 41.7% (10/24) USC 18.6% (8/43) !!
Save %: Stanford 73.3% (22/30) !! USC 37.5% (6/16).
RE: 2026 MWP - M T - 09-20-2026
I didn't make it to the games today, but followed the Stanford-UCLA game via live stats.
Maybe I should have gone. Maybe just one more cheering fan....
It was a tight game... UCLA up 3-2 after the 1st period. Stanford goes up 5-4 late in the 2nd period, only to have UCLA score a last second goal to make it 5-5.
Third period was UCLA's best period, going up 8-6 over Stanford.
In the 4th, Stanford wins the sprint and cuts the lead to 8-7 just 14 seconds in.
About the halfway point, after a Stanford save on a UCLA penalty shot, Stanford ties it up 8-8 on a power play.
But UCLA scores two quick goals, making it 10-8 with 2:47 to go.
Stanford doesn't give up. Stanford earns, and makes a penalty shot just 15 seconds later. 10-9
1:06 to go, Stanford ties it up.
Water polo has a 30 second shot clock. Even if UCLA scores, Stanford should get it back.
But 10 seconds later, a Stanford player is excluded, which resets the shot clock to 30 for UCLA.
Stanford steals the ball with 36 seconds on the clock. It was looking hopeful at that point.
But Stanford misses the shot and UCLA gets the ball with seven seconds on the clock.
Sigh... UCLA scores with 1 second on the clock, winning 11-10.
A tight game. It came down to who scored in that last minute.
Meanwhile USC beat Cal in another close game 13-12.
So, the rankings should be 1) UCLA, 2) Stanford, 3) USC, 4) Cal
Stanford plays the SoCal schools there on Oct 3 & 4, and at Stanford Oct 31 & Nov 1.
Stanford plays at Cal on Oct. 17 and at home on Nov 13.