WHAT’S AHEAD?: No. 2 Stanford kicks off April and hits the home stretch of its 2015 slate when it hosts No. 9 San Jose State for an MPSF contest on Saturday, April 4 at 1 p.m. The match against the Spartans will be the first of four straight against league foes for the Cardinal to close out the regular season.
LAST TIME OUT: Kiley Neushul netted three goals in a 14-3 win over UC Davis (Mar. 29), as well as in a 10-4 MPSF win at Arizona State (Mar. 28), becoming the fourth Cardinal and 38th player in MPSF history to reach 200 in her career. Anna Yelizarova’s late goal vs. UCD gave her a career milestone of 100. Gabby Stone collected a career-high 15 saves against the Aggies, while Ashley Grossman and Dani Jackovich also posted hat tricks in that win. Shannon Cleary was effective on defense with two field blocks and two turnovers forced at ASU and the next day helped Stanford limit an opponent to three goals or less for the eighth time this year.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Kiley Neushul was named MPSF/Kap7 Player of the Week when the league announced its weekly honors on Tuesday afternoon. It was Neushul’s first award of the season and the third time a Stanford student-athlete has been selected as the week’s best from the MPSF in 2015. Goalkeeper Gabby Stone was the honoree on Feb. 3 and Neushul’s younger sister Jamie took home the accolade on Mar. 10. Neushul led Stanford in scoring in its weekend sweep of No. 8 Arizona State (10-4) and No. 11 UC Davis (14-3), scoring one quarter of the Cardinal’s 24 total goals. The senior tallied hat tricks in both victories, her sixth and seventh of the season, and has now scored in each of Stanford’s 18 games this year, putting forth 14 multi-goal efforts.
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 35 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 (14.11) behind USC (17.95) and third in goals allowed per game (4.44), trailing the Trojans (4.33) and UCLA (4.35). Individually, Kiley Neushul’s 41 goals place her fifth in goals per game (2.28). Ashley Grossman is seventh (2.22) and Maggie Steffens is 15th (1.78). Gabby Stone’s 4.58 goals against average is fourth in the conference and her 8.31 saves per game are seventh. Emily Dorst has allowed 21 goals in 22 quarters and leads the MPSF in goals against average (3.82).
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 35 consecutive games. The team has limited 11 of its 18 foes to four goals or less this season. Stanford is currently allowing 4.44 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.
AT AVERY: Stanford is 75-4 at home since 2008 and currently in the midst of a 23-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 (200), Ashley Grossman (155), Maggie Steffens (143) and Anna Yelizarova (100). 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 512-82 (.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 44, with both coming at the hands of UCLA.
