SAN JOSE, Calif. – The No. 1 Stanford women’s water polo team began its NCAA title defense in fine fashion at the LouStrong Memorial on Saturday, easily dispatching Pacific and Cal State Monterey Bay by a combined score of 34-3. The Cardinal handled the Tigers in the morning, 14-3, before shutting out the Otters, 20-0, in the afternoon.
The pair of wide margins came one day after Stanford swept the national teams of China and Brazil in exhibitions to open the tournament hosted by San Jose State. The Cardinal took down China, 10-6, to kick things off yesterday and defeated Brazil in the early afternoon, 13-6. As of the most recent FINA Water Polo World Rankings, China is No. 2 in the world and Brazil is No. 14.
No. 1 Stanford 14 – Pacific 3
Kiley Neushul tallied her 29th career hat trick, Maggie Steffens and Anna Yelizarova scored two apiece for Stanford and seven others rattled the cage once to push the Cardinal to a 14-3 victory over Pacific.
Ashley Grossman started the action with a goal just 18 seconds after the ball dropped. The Tigers tied things up with a score from Anna Kertes at 5:30 before Stanford reeled off the game’s next five goals to take control. Yelizarova (4:18) and Neushul (2:37) put home exclusion tallies in the first quarter and Neushul scored another at even strength with 1:33 left in the period.
Steffens (3:11) and Neushul (0:37) did the damage for the Cardinal in the second quarter to give their team a 6-1 lead at the break.
It was much of the same in the third and fourth frames. Despite two Pacific goals from Gracie Smith coming out of halftime, Stanford scored five times in the third quarter, all at even strength. The balanced effort included marks from Natalie Chun (6:51), Sophia Monaghan (6:36), Katie Dudley (5:33), Cassidy Papa (3:04), Jamie Neushul (2:12) and Steffens (1:29).
The Cardinal added three more in the fourth courtesy of Yelizarova’s second (6:33), Gurpreet Sohi (5:28) and Jordan Raney (2:26) to seal the victory.
Gabby Stone played all four quarters in the cage and made nine saves. Stanford was 2-of-3 on the power play, while Pacific was 1-of-7.
No. 1 Stanford vs. Pacific
Jan. 17, 2015 • San Jose, Calif.
UOP 1 – 0 – 2 – 0 = 3
STAN 4 – 2 – 5 – 3 = 14
Pacific Goals: Gracie Smith 2, Anna Kertes
Pacific Saves: Michelle Relton 5
Stanford Goals: Kiley Neushul 3, Maggie Steffens 2, Anna Yelizarova 2, Natalie Chun, Katie Dudley, Ashley Grossman, Jamie Neushul, Cassidy Papa, Jordan Raney, Gurpreet Sohi
Stanford Saves: Gabby Stone 9
No. 1 Stanford 20 – Cal State Monterey Bay 0
Dani Jackovich notched her third career hat trick and Anna Yelizarova her 11th to guide Stanford to a 20-0 romp over Cal State Monterey Bay. In a balanced effort, 11 Cardinal scored and there were seven multi-goal performances including the hat tricks from Jackovich and Yelizarova.
Katie Dudley, Ashley Grossman, Kiley Neushul, Gurpreet Sohi and Maggie Steffens each contributed a pair of scores as the Cardinal reached the 20-goal plateau for the sixth time in the past three seasons.
Emily Dorst went the distance in the cage and made eight saves.
No. 1 Stanford vs. Cal State Monterey Bay
Jan. 17, 2015 • San Jose, Calif.
CSUMB 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 = 0
STAN 5 – 6 – 5 – 4 = 20
CSUMB Goals: N/A
CSUMB Saves: Amanda Jennings 7, Morgan Watson 2
Stanford Goals: Dani Jackovich 3, Anna Yelizarova 3, Katie Dudley 2, Ashley Grossman 2, Kiley Neushul 2, Gurpreet Sohi 2, Maggie Steffens 2, Natalie Chun, Shannon Cleary, Sophia Monaghan, Jordan Raney
Stanford Saves: Emily Dorst 8