Stanford Finds Form Against Spartans in Big Win

Stanford, Ca. Saturday 2.22.14

Stanford returned to Pacific Western Conference play after a tough test against Cal and proved that lessons had been learned from that loss with an impressive twelve try display in a 68-5 Victory. Stanford were rampant from the start as they turned San Jose over from the very first kick off and patiently strung together fourteen phases of play before space was created Fullback Sam Falkenhagen to round the move off on the right sideline. Falkenhagen later latched onto a kick through from Scrumhalf Alex Le Roux either side of two Austin Carey lineout drive tries as Stanford quickly built a comfortable lead. Falkenhagen had time to complete his hat-trick before half time as the away side struggled to cope with Stanford’s high tempo and physicality. Alex Barron, who had shifted from second row to back row for this game, showed his versatility with a support line to receive the offload after an Austin Carry line break. He duly cantered under the posts for the sixth try of the afternoon.

Stanford maintained their standards in the second half with another six tries. Centre Chris Sebastian opened his account for the day skipping past two defenders near the tryline after George Fullerton had provided quick ruck ball from a left side scrum and fly half Oscar Sandovel shifted the ball to Sebastian in space on the right.
Stanford continued to raise the pace of the game and LeRoux profited from his own quick tap penalty as 4 phases later the defense failed to cover the space around the ruck and he punished them with a dart for another try. The forwards then got in on the act as hooker Jeremy Kim and Austin Carey both powered over from short range. To round off a great display, LeRoux repeated his earlier trick and Chris Sebastian pounced on a loose ball as they both claimed their second tries of the half.

The JV side completed a successful day with a 34-10 victory. Tries by Oscar Sandovel, Jack Chabolla, Mitch Hokanson and Dylan Liu ensured that they stayed unbeaten this season and continued the good progress made by the Stanford squad.

A highly successful day in beautiful conditions was enjoyed by a large crowd of home support on Parents’ Weekend. The event included a barbeque and a flying visit from the Stanford band to add to the occasion. It was a great chance for Parents and Alumni to mix and enjoy the high standard of play from the home side that moved to 3-3 Overall (2-0 in the Pacific Western Conference.

Team: 1. Brown 2. Kim 3. Quigley 4. Carey 5. Barron 6. Ripert 7. Barron 8. Agness (Captain) 9. A LeRoux 10. Lexmond 11. Odek  12. Fullerton 13. Sebastian 14. Abundes 15. Falkenhagen  RESERVES: 16. Bailey 17. Omegara 18. Hokanson 19. Perkins 20. Houghton-Berry  21. Nelson 22. Greiner 23. Sandovel

Next up: Stanford look to continue their unbeaten start to conference play as they host San Francisco State this Saturday March 1st at Stanford’s Steuber Stadium at 1pm.