No. 2 Stanford women's water polo marked its "Sustainability" Day at Santa Clara with a 14-6 victory over the No. 15 Broncos Wednesday.
The Cardinal (5-0), which traveled to and from the game on Caltrain and utilized reusable water bottles to highlight its focus on sustainable energy and conservation, got hat tricks from Annika Dries and Ashley Grossman to lead the offensive effort. Dani Jackovich, Kiley Neushul and Anna Yelizarova each scored twice while Jamie Neushul and Maggie Steffens added a goal apiece.
Gabby Stone started and played the first three periods before Emily Dorst came on for the final frame in the cage.
Dries scored twice within the opening 2:56 and KIley Neushul added a goal at the 4:21 mark as Stanford raced out to a 3-0 lead. Yelizarova matched Santa Clara's opener from Erin Sheridan to make it 4-1, but the Broncos would get two straight goals from Elizabeth Anderson and Laura Burtness to cut the Cardinal's lead to one at 4-3 with 11 seconds left in the period.
Grossman, however, would end the frame on a high note for the Cardinal, doubling the lead two seconds before the horn. Yet the Broncos hung tough, as Sheridan's second brought Santa Clara back to within one at 5-4 less than a minute into the second period.
Stanford would answer with a four-goal run either side of halftime capped by a pair of goals from Jackovich that made it 9-4 with 5:40 to go in the third period. Although the Broncos would score a goal to break the run, KIley and Jamie Neushul would answer with goals before the end of the frame to give the Cardinal an 11-5 lead.
The Cardinal would score the first three goals of the fourth period to help put the game on ice.
Stanford - 5 3 3 3 = 14
Santa Clara - 3 1 1 1 = 6
Stanford Goal Scorers: Dries 3, Grossman 3, Jackovich 2, K. Neushul 2, Yelizarova 2, J. Neushul, Steffens
Santa Clara Goal Scorers: E. Anderson 2, Sheridan 2, Burtness, Eadington
Goalie Saves: Stone 7, Dorst 2 (S); Afshar TBD (SCU)