NCAA Title Game AwaitsNCAA Title Game Awaits
Women's Water Polo

NCAA Title Game Awaits

Stanford chasing its 10th NCAA title and third in four seasons

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INDIANAPOLIS – Jenna Flynn matched a career high with six goals, fueling No. 1 Stanford to a 13-4 victory over No. 5 Hawai’i on Saturday afternoon in the NCAA semifinals.

The nation’s only program to have participated in all 24 NCAA Championships since the event’s inception in 2001, Stanford (24-1, 5-1 MPSF) will chase its 10th NCAA title in school history on Sunday at 9 a.m. PT against No. 3 USC. The Cardinal won two of three meetings against the Trojans this season.

Christine Carpenter led a stout Cardinal defense with six saves in goal, shutting down a potent Rainbow Wahine offense, including a scoreless second period.

Stanford, which also defeated Hawai’i 12-7 back on Jan. 18 at the Cal Cup in Berkeley, built a 7-2 lead at intermission and stretched it to 11-3 after three quarters.

Flynn’s attacking pressure led the way, scoring the game’s first five goals before matching her career high of six with a score at the 6:58 mark of the third period. Flynn, who leads the Cardinal with 66 goals after totaling 60 two years ago as a freshman, also contributed two assists and set the tone for Stanford’s offense with a team-high eight shot attempts.

24 hours after tying the school scoring record in a 28-6 rout of Wagner in the opening round, Stanford required some early adjustments to get on track after leading 3-2 through one period.

Juliette Dhalluin’s score with 16 seconds before halftime gave the Cardinal a 7-2 advantage.

Ryann Neushul increased her career scoring total to 227 with a goal to open the third period. Neushul, bidding to become Stanford’s first four-time team champion in school history, now ranks fifth all-time on the Cardinal’s scoring list.

Ella Woodhead delivered back-to-back goals to close out the third period, with her first score extending Stanford’s streak of having scored at least 10 goals in every game this season.

Eleanor Facey closed out the scoring with 1:34 remaining, giving the Cardinal seven different scorers in the match.

Stanford Goals: Jenna Flynn (6), Ella Woodhead (2), Serena Browne (1), Juliette Dhalluin (1), Eleanor Facey (1), Ryann Neushul (1), Sophia Sanders (1).