May 7, 2012
STANFORD, Calif. - Freshman driver Kiley Neushul was named a finalist for the Peter J. Cutino award, The Olympic Club of San Francisco announced Monday. The award is given annually to the nation's outstanding male and female collegiate water polo players.
UCLA's KK Clark and Caitlin Dement joined Neushul as finalists for the women's award. Stanford has had three players previously earn the Cutino Award: Brenda Villa (2002), Jackie Frank (2003) and Annika Dries (2011).
Neushul was named the MPSF Newcomer of the Year as well as to the All-MPSF First Team and MPSF All-Newcomer Team last week.
The Goleta, Calif. native leads the Cardinal with 55 goals so far in 2012, on pace to become just the fifth true freshman since 1997 to lead the team in scoring.
Neushul's play has helped the Cardinal to a 23-2 overall record, a perfect 7-0 mark in MPSF play and the top seed at this weekend's National Collegiate Championship in San Diego, where Stanford aims to earn its third NCAA title overall and second consecutive. The Cardinal's defense of its 2011 crown begins Friday at 3:30 p.m. PT against eighth-seeded Pomona-Pitzer at San Diego State's Aztec Aquaplex.
In addition to leading the team in scoring, Neushul was named MPSF Player of the Week on April 16 after scoring five times in an 11-5 win over California on April 14. She earned the conference's weekly top newcomer award four times as well (Jan. 30, Feb. 27, March 13, April 23).
The 2012 Peter J. Cutino Award will be announced at the 13th Annual Cutino Awards Dinner to be held June 2 at The Olympic Club's City Clubhouse.