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Published on 08/14/1995 All articles from this issue

Local players boost Stanford water polo to 2nd place

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By Alex Valdes

After surviving Hurricane Erin, a low seeding and sudden death, it was not surprising that the members of Stanford's Under-17 team were happy about their performance at the recent Junior Olympics in Orlando, Fla.

Stanford finished in second place with a 6-2 record, dropping a 7-1 decision to SoCal in the championship game Aug. 6. Stanford also fell to its Southern California rival, 12-3, two days earlier.

"I felt we played pretty well most of the time," said Stanford player Mike Lipinski, who is also a player at St. Francis. "I think they were disappointing losses to SoCal, but they were the better team. I felt that we did better than everyone expected us to. The only team we lost to was SoCal. We played higher-seeded teams the whole way through and upset them."

One of those upsets occurred on Friday, when No. 6-seeded Stanford defeated Concord, 5-4, in sudden-death overtime when Lipinski scored off a pass from Gabe Esposto. The victory gave Stanford unofficial honors as the top team in Northern California.

"That really showed a lot of character," said Stanford coach Ben Quittner. "The day before, they had lost to SoCal (12-3) and looked flat, and I wasn't optimistic about winning that game (against Concord). But they came back and they were fired up."

Lipinski, fellow St. Francis player Mike Merwin and MountainView star Matt Stone were pivotal members of a team that seemed to peak following the Junior Olympic qualifying tournament last month.

In that tournament, Stanford lost to Marin, but Stanford gained revenge with a dominating 19-9 win over Marin during the Junior Olympics during a driving rainstorm that was part of Hurrican Erin.

"After qualifiers, we got together and had a big team meeting," Merwin said. "We looked at what everyone's role was on the team and we decided we really wanted to win. We practiced really hard and came together at J.O.'s. We weren't completely bonded together (at J.O. qualifying). After that, we really started clicking."

Stone, who Quittner called the "center of our offense," drew the kickout prior to the winning goal against Concord and also provided plenty of offense against Marin.

"He didn't just score, but he was a leader," Quittner said of Stone, who led Mountain View to the Central Coast Section Division II championship in May. "He's a very physical player. He didn't back down from anybody and he threw some really good passes."

Stone and Lipinski, who were both chosen for the national youth team after a competition in Canada last month, gave Stanford plenty of punch at holesetter and at two-meter guard, respectively. Merwin was "doing really well but I think he got tired at the end of the season. He needs improvement on defense but he's a hell of an offensive player," Quittner said.

All three will be back with the Stanford Under-17 team next season, which will only lose four players off the current team.