STANFORD, Calif. – Two games. Two comfortable wins for the top-ranked Cardinal women’s water polo team at the Stanford Invitational on Saturday. At its home facility, Stanford routed No. 16 UC Davis, 16-4, in a morning game in Belardi Pool and stifled No. 6 UC Irvine in Avery Stadium in the afternoon, 11-3.
Ashley Grossman and Kiley Neushul each scored six total goals in the two games. Defensively, the Cardinal (4-0) held its opponents scoreless in five of eight quarters. In its first four outings of 2015, Stanford has outscored its opponents by a dominant 61-10 margin.
The two Saturday wins were also the 498th and 499th in Stanford women’s water polo history. The Cardinal will have its first chance to reach the 500-victory milestone tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. against No. 7 San Jose State.
No. 1 Stanford 16 – No. 18 UC Davis 4
Ashley Grossman and Kiley Neushul combined for nine of Stanford’s 16 goals and Emily Dorst led the way in the cage with seven saves in Saturday morning’s 16-4 win over No. 18 UC Davis.
The Cardinal jumped out to an early 6-0 lead after the first quarter primarily riding the arms of the Neushul sisters, who scored all but one of Stanford’s tallies in the frame.
Kiley started things off a 7:39 and was backed up by a score from Jamie at 6:33. Grossman fired home her first of the day at 5:50 before another pair of goals from Kiley (4:34 and 3:30) sandwiched one from Jamie at 4:01.
The two squads each accounted for an even two goals apiece in the second quarter before another Stanford explosion in the third put the game out of reach. Stanford scored seven times in the period without surrendering a score and led 15-2 heading into the fourth.
That third-quarter onslaught featured a parade of Cardinal rattling the cage. Maggie Steffens began the frame with an exclusion tally at 7:27. Grossman added two more in less than 30 seconds (6:58 and 6:35). Anna Yelizarova notched her only goal of the game with 4:56 left in the period before Grossman (4:11) and Steffens (3:09) again traded goals. Kiley Neushul capped the fireworks with her fourth of the contest at 2:09.
Freshman Katie Dudley scored her fourth of the young season to account for Stanford’s only goal in the final frame and put an exclamation point on its 16-4 victory.
Gabby Stone made one save in the first quarter before giving way to Dorst, who handled the final three with ease, stopping seven Aggie attempts.
No. 1 Stanford vs. No. 18 UC Davis
Jan. 31, 2015 • Stanford, Calif.
UCD 0 – 2 – 0 – 2 = 4
STAN 6 – 2 – 7 – 1 = 16
UC Davis Goals: L. Emge, B. Lutz, K. Houston, C. Tocchini
UC Davis Saves: J. Wilding 8
Stanford Goals: Ashley Grossman 5, Kiley Neushul 4, Jamie Neushul 2, Maggie Steffens 2, Katie Dudley, Sophia Monaghan, Anna Yelizarova
Stanford Saves: Emily Dorst 7, Gabby Stone 1
No. 1 Stanford 11 – No. 6 UC Irvine 3
Playing its first top-10 opponent of the season, Stanford put the clamps on No. 6 UC Irvine on Saturday afternoon, holding the Anteaters without a goal until there was 6:47 on the clock in the fourth and final quarter.
By that time, the Cardinal already enjoyed an 8-0 advantage. It was Grossman and Kiley Neushul again in the early going, as the former scored the game’s first goal at 7:38. Neuhsul added two of her own (6:21 and 0:53) to give Stanford a 3-0 lead after one.
Katie Dudley (5:32) and Gurpreet Sohi (4:11) each scored once in the second to hand the Cardinal a 5-0 edge at intermission.
In the third, two tallies from Anna Yelizarova at 6:40 and 3:50 began the frame, which was capped with Shannon Cleary’s second goal of the season with 31 ticks on the clock.
Each team scored a trio of goals in the fourth quarter to account for the 11-3 final. Stanford’s strikes in the period came from Dani Jackovich (2) and Yelizarova.
Gabby Stone handled all four quarters in the cage and made 10 stops.
No. 1 Stanford vs. No. 6 UC Irvine
Jan. 31, 2015 • Stanford, Calif.
UCI 0 – 0 – 0 – 3 = 3
STAN 3 – 2 – 3 – 3 = 11
UCI Goals: C. Shockley, M. Mitchell, G. Pierandozzi
UCI Saves: J. Yocum 6
Stanford Goals: Anna Yelizarova 3, Dani Jackovich 2, Kiley Neushul 2, Shannon Cleary, Katie Dudley, Ashley Grossman, Gurpreet Sohi
Stanford Saves: Gabby Stone 10