WHAT’S AHEAD?: No. 2 Stanford (18-1, 3-0 MPSF) closes out its regular-season home schedule with a pair of weekend league matches against No. 1 UCLA (20-1, 4-0 MPSF) and CSU Bakersfield (12-13, 0-4 MPSF). The ball drops in the Cardinal’s showdown with the Bruins at noon on Saturday, April 11. Stanford meets the Roadrunners on Sunday, April 12 at the same time. The Cardinal and UCLA have split their meetings this year, with Stanford winning 10-6 in the championship game of the Stanford Invitational on Feb. 1 and the Bruins coming out on top in overtime, 7-6, in the championship match of the UC Irvine Invitational on Feb. 22.
CARDINALPALOOZA: The match with UCLA coincides with Cardinalpalooza, a free all-day sports festival that includes Saturday’s contest against USC, along with six other Cardinal teams in action. Highlighted by the Cardinal & White Spring Football game at 1 p.m., Cardinalpalooza also features tailgating opportunities, food trucks in Pac-12 plaza, merchandise discounts and post-event interaction with competing teams.
SENIOR SUNDAY: Sunday’s contest against Bakersfield will also serve as Stanford’s Senior Day, in which the Cardinal’s three-person senior class of Emily Dorst, Ashley Grossman and Kiley Neushul will be honored in a pregame ceremony. In their four years on The Farm, the trio has led Stanford to a 98-7 record and a pair of national championships.
LAST TIME OUT: Five Cardinal delivered hat tricks in a 23-6 MPSF home victory over San Jose State last Saturday. The balanced effort saw hat tricks turned by Ashley Grossman, Jamie Neushul, Kiley Neushul, Gurpreet Sohi and Maggie Steffens. It was Grossman’s seventh of the season, Jamie Neushul’s second, Kiley Neushul’s eighth, Sohi’s second and Steffens’ fifth.
NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK: For the third time this season, Stanford freshman Jordan Raney was named MPSF/Kap7 Newcomer of the Week when the conference announced its weekly honors on Tuesday. The Manhattan Beach, Calif. native’s three MPSF Newcomer of the Week nods are tops in the league this season. Raney posted one of Stanford’s eight multi-goal efforts in its win over the Spartans. It was the fourth time she has put home two in a game this season and first in MPSF action. Her 16 goals are ninth on a Stanford squad which is averaging 14.58 per game.
MPSF PICK: Stanford collected the maximum possible 36 points and six first-place votes to top the 2015 MPSF Women’s Water Polo Coaches’ Poll. UCLA was tabbed second with 31 points and secured the only other first-place vote while USC garnered 26 points and was selected third. California, Arizona State, San Jose State and CSU Bakersfield rounded out the preseason picks. The Cardinal, which finished 25-1 overall last season and 6-0 in league play, has not lost an MPSF game since 2009, a stretch of 36 regular-season conference outings. Its last league loss came at USC on April 18, 2009 (11-6).
SEEING THE STATS: Stanford finds itself second in the MPSF in goals per game (14.58) behind USC (17.41) and third in goals allowed per game (4.44), trailing the Trojans (4.36) and UCLA (4.38). Individually, Kiley Neushul’s 44 goals place her fifth in goals per game (2.32). Ashley Grossman is sixth (2.26) and Maggie Steffens is 13th (1.84). Gabby Stone’s 4.73 goals against average is third in the conference and her 8.15 saves per game are fifth.
DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS: The Cardinal’s defense has been a constant ingredient in its success. Dating back to last year, Stanford has held its opponents under 10 goals in 36 consecutive games. The team has limited 11 of its 19 foes to four goals or less this season. Stanford is currently allowing 4.53 goals per game, which would be its best mark since 2007 (4.41). The Cardinal has led the MPSF in goals allowed per game four out of the past five years.
OFFENSIVE ONSLAUGHT: Stanford’s output against San Jose State was its fourth time this season firing home 20 or more goals, the program’s most since it did so five times in 1997 in what was its second year of varsity status. Entering this year, the Cardinal had reached that mark in a single game 11 times in the past 16 seasons. Stanford, which is currently scoring 14.58 goals per game, has never averaged more than 14 through an entire season. Last year’s 13.31 clip was a school record.
AT AVERY: Stanford is 76-4 at home since 2008 and currently in the midst of a 24-game winning streak at Avery Aquatic Center. Its last setback at the iconic venue came to UCLA, 8-7, in the 2012 MPSF Tournament Championship (April 29).
PLAYING HOST: For the third time, Stanford will host the National Collegiate Women’s Water Polo Championships from May 8-10, 2015 at Avery Aquatic Center. The Cardinal also hosted in 2004 when USC claimed the title and 2008 when UCLA took home the crown. Stanford will be looking to break a streak that has yet to see a host win the NCAA Championship since the tournament began in 2001.
APPROACHING MARKS: Stanford boasts four 100-goal scorers in Kiley Neushul (203), Ashley Grossman (158), Maggie Steffens (146) and Anna Yelizarova (102). Neushul is currently fourth in Cardinal history behind Melissa Seidemann (239), Lauren Silver (239) and Ellen Estes (214), while Grossman is 10th and Steffens is 11th. Next up for those two is Kelly Eaton (171).
THE STANDARD: The Cardinal’s win over San Jose State on Feb. 1 was the 500th in the history of the women’s water polo program and Stanford is now 513-82 (.862) all-time. Stanford, which was 108-7 during its recent run of national championships, has won at least 25 games each of the last eight seasons and has finished among the nation’s top three each and every season under John Tanner. The team is the only one that has made the NCAA’s every year since 2001.
BEST IN THE WORLD: In early December, junior Maggie Steffens was named the FINA Women’s Water Polo Athlete of the Year for the second time. The American beat out five other finalists in Kami Craig (USA), Maica Garcia (ESP), Giulia Gorlero (ITA), Rita Keszthelyi (HUN), and Rowie Webster (AUS). The science, technology and society major delivered 12 goals helping Team USA earn a second consecutive FINA World Cup crown in 2014. She was second on the team in scoring with 11 goals in a gold medal effort at the 2014 FINA World League Super Final. Steffens is the first female two-time winner of the award, which was inaugurated in 2010. She was also named the FINA Women’s Water Polo Athlete of the Year in 2012 before making her collegiate debut with the Cardinal.
IN THE POLLS: Stanford maintained its No. 2 spot in the national rankings (95 points), behind No. 1 UCLA (100 points) in this week’s CWPA Women’s Varsity Top 20 Poll. USC (90 points) California (85 points) and UC Irvine (80 points) round out the top five.
STREAKING: Stanford’s 7-6 overtime loss to UCLA on Feb. 22 snapped the Cardinal’s 27-game winning streak dating back to 2014 and was the program’s first setback since it fell to the same Bruins (9-6) in Irvine on Feb. 23, 2014. The winning streak was the Cardinal’s longest since the program won 28 straight 14 years ago, its final game of 2000 and the first 27 of 2001. Stanford has only lost twice in its past 45, with both coming at the hands of UCLA.
