Player Bios Michael Bury Andrew Drake Tyler Drake Peter Finlayson
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2006 Stanford Water Polo Outlook 2005 In Review or the fifth straight year, the Stanford men’s water polo team played in the very year, Stanford head water polo “What is amazing about J.J. is his ability to do so many things for us,”said Vargas. “He championship game of the NCAA Tournament. Although the Cardinal coach John Vargas produces great teams goes unnoticed. J.J. scores when we absolutely need a goal. He is our best defensive play- F E dropped a hard-fought 3-2 decison to top-ranked USC, the fact that Stanford had that compete for the NCAA championship. er. When we are playing a team that has a great offensive player, J.J. is the guy who usu- reached the finals for the fifth straight season was truly remarkable. During that In four years at the Cardinal helm,Vargas has ally shuts him down. He is one of the main reasons why we have done so well the last guided Stanford to the NCAA championship couple of years.” time, Stanford has won two NCAA titles (2001, 2002). game, including an NCAA title in 2002. Drake and Fortune combined to score 23 goals last year. “Drake is a fifth-year sen- Once again, the Cardinal battled the top teams in the nation during the 2005 That sounds like an easy task, but Vargas ior, and we’re expecting a lot out of him offensively,” added Vargas. “Fortune is a two- campaign, and came away with an impresive 20-7 record. Stanford started the year faces enormous challenges each year. Great meter defender who gets better year-by-year. Ryan has played significant minutes the with its longest winning streak of the campaign. The Cardinal won six straight players arrive on The Farm, and then gradu- past two years.” games including wins over nationally-ranked UCLA (10-9), Pepperdine (7-5) and ate. In the last two years, replacing some of Despite the loss of the powerful scoring load of Hopkins and Varellas, Vargas says the UC Santa Barbara (11-5). the best collegiate players in United States offensive system that has worked in past years will again be in effect in 2006. A strong showing in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) history has not been easy, but Vargas still gets “What is interesting is that in all of our big games last year, everybody contributed to Tournament helped Stanford earn an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament in the job done. the scoring column, not just Thomas or Peter,” said Vargas. “We got goals from a lot of Lewisburg, Pa. In the semi-finals, six different Cardinal players score a goal in a Before the start of the 2005 season, Vargas different players. We’re going to spread out the scoring this year. It won’t be focused on tough 7-6 victory over Loyola Marymount. The championship game featured had to replace the best player in the history just two guys. We’ll have a lot of people scoring goals.” Stanford against top-ranked USC. The Trojans again proved their strength over the of collegiate water polo, Tony Azevedo. Stanford will have good depth with the likes of Andrew Drake, Peter Finlayson, Chris Cardinal with a 3-2 victory, the fifth time during the 2005 season that USC had Azevedo, a two-time member of the United Jacobsen, Ryan McCarthy, Forrest Schwartz and Steven Wright. scored a win over Stanford. Peter Varellas and Thomas Hopkins were named to the States Olympic Team by age 22, helped lead Last year, the Cardinal played great defense. That was in part to the efforts of junior NCAA All-Tournament first team. Sandy Hohener, Will Hindle-Katel and J.J. Stanford to a 91-16 record, four trips to the goalkeeper Sandy Hohener, a second-team All-American. Vargas says Hohener, who Garton were named second team all-tournament. NCAA title game, and two NCAA titles. collected 171 saves, was the best goalkeeper in the country. Seniors Peter Varellas and Thomas Hopkins dominated the scoring for Stanford Vargas worked his coaching magic last “Sandy Hohener is a great athlete but he is a great competitor more than anything Drac Wigo in 2005.Varellas and Hopkins combined for 110 of Stanford’s 245 goals.Varellas led year, and despite the loss of Azevedo to grad- else,”said Vargas. “He continues to get better. He’ll be the backbone of our defense. He the Cardinal with 62 goals while Hopkins uation, Stanford chalked up a 20-7 record will keep us in games just because of the fact that he is a good player.” Hohener will be and advanced to the NCAA title game. Last year, Peter Varellas and Thomas Hopkins backed by the talented duo of Jimmie Sandman and Beau Stockstill. added 48. Over their four-year careers, 2005 Results combined for 110 of Stanford 245 goals. In their four-year careers,Varellas and Hopkins Vargas has recruited another excellent freshman class, five to be exact, for the 2006 the duo scored 347 goals, helped Stanford Date Opponent Outcome chalked up a total of 347 goals, four trips to the NCAA title game, and one national season. The list includes the Wigo twins, Drac and Janson, Will Smith, Cody Wiesen and to four trips to the NCAA championship 9/4 Santa Clara W, 19-4 game and one NCAA title (2002). 9/10 UC Davis W, 9-7 crown. Sage Wright. The Wigo brothers (from Northeast High School in Oakland Park, Fl) 9/11 UC Santa Cruz W, 16-3 Vargas must now find replacements for Varellas and Hopkins as he prepares for his have the ability to make an immediate impact on the Cardinal in 2006. For their efforts in 2005, Varellas and Southern California Tournament (Irvine, Ca) fifth season in 2006. “They are incredible water polo players,” Hopkins were accorded first team All- 9/17 UC Santa Barbara W, 11-5 “Losing Thomas (Hopkins) and Peter (Varellas) to graduation will definitely have an said Vargas. They come from a talented fam- American honors by the American Water 9/17 Pepperdine W, 7-5 9/18 UCLA W, 10-9 (2ot) impact on the team,” said Vargas, who has chalked up a career mark of 89-22 (.802) ily. Their father, Bruce, was the former exec- Polo Coaches Association. Sandy 9/18 USC L, 5-6 against the top collegiate competition in the country. “Peter and Thomas played a large utive director of U.S. Water Polo, while their Hohener, who collected 171 saves during 9/29 Pacific W, 14-4 role on the four teams that went to the NCAA championship final. Thomas played in older brother, Wolf, was a four-time All- the season, was a second team All- 10/1 at California L, 5-9 every one of those championship games and made a significant impact in each of those American at Stanford, and one of the great American selection, while J.J. Garton, 10/8 *at Pacific W, 9-2 games. Peter played in three of those games, and also made an impact. Both were great players in collegiate history in addition to 10/14 Loyola Marymount W, 10-3 who combined 16 goals along with a NorCal Tournament (Berkeley, Ca) All-Americans.” being a member of two U.S. Olympic teams. great defensive presence, was honored 10/15 Air Force W, 15-5 Vargas, in 2006, will coach a team that will be young. On Stanford’s 19-man roster, “These two freshman have grown up playing with a third team All-American selection. 10/15 UC San Diego W, 8-7 10/16 UCLA W, 6-5 only two players are seniors, a handful are juniors, and the majority are sophomores water polo, and they have the capabilities of Varellas, Hopkins and Hohener were along with a true freshman class that numbers five. making an impact on this team right away.” 10/16 USC L, 7-8 first team All-MPSF selections. Garton 10/22 *at Long Beach State W, 10-8 Despite the loss of its top two scorers to graduation, Peter Varellas (62 goals) and Smith hails from Greenwich, Ct, while and William Hindle-Katel were honor- 10/29 *UCLA W, 9-8 (2ot) Thomas Hopkins (48 goals) last year, the Cardinal does have enough firepower to get Cody Wiesen and Sage Wright are from able mention choices. Hindle-Katel was 10/30 *Pepperdine W, 11-9 the job done this year. William Hindle-Katel, Michael Bury, J.J. Garton, Tyler Drake and Santa Barbara, Ca. 11/5 *at USC L, 7-8 Ryan Fortune combined to score 103 of Stanford’s 245 goals last season. Hindle-Katel, As always, Stanford will play a highly named MPSF Newcomer of the Year. 11/6 *at UC Irvine L, 5-8 Stanford also succeeded in the class- 11/12 *UCSB W, 14-6 a sophomore, leads the Cardinal returnees with 37 goals, while Bury, a junior, tallied 27 competitive schedule in 2006. The home 11/19 *California W, 7-4 room. Michael Bury, Tyler Drake, Peter last year. schedule includes games against defending MPSF Tournament (Los Angeles, Ca) “Will and Michael played the center positions last year, and these two players sur- NCAA champion USC (11/4) and national- Finlayson, Ryan Fortune, J.J. Garton, 11/25 Pepperdine W, 9-7 passed my expectations,” said Vargas. “They played very well, and they were one of the ly-ranked California (11/19). Stanford will Sandy Hohener, Thomas Hopkins, 11/26 UC Irvine W, 11-5 Marcello Pantuliano, Forrest Schwartz 11/27 USC L, 5-9 key reasons that we were able to reach the NCAA championship game.