WHAT’S AHEAD?: No. 1 Stanford (20-1, 5-0 MPSF) meets No. 4 California (17-5, 3-2 MPSF) in the annual Big Splash on Thursday, April 16 at 5 p.m. in Berkeley. The final regular-season match for both squads will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Networks with Greg Mescall handling play-by-play and Chris Dorst providing analysis.
LAST TIME OUT: Stanford secured the top seed for the upcoming MPSF Tournament with two conference home wins last weekend, 8-7 over No. 1 UCLA on Saturday and 20-5 over CSU Bakersfield on Sunday. The victories made it 38 straight regular-season MPSF wins and 26 straight overall wins at home. Kiley Neushul combined for six goals in the two games, including four against Bakersfield. Maggie Steffens and Ashley Grossman also put away four against the Roadrunners. Jamie Neushul along with sister Kiley scored twice in the UCLA win, a game in which the Cardinal never trailed.
BIG SPLASH: The Stanford-California women’s water polo rivalry has been a one-sided affair over the past 15 years, as the Cardinal has won the past 40 meetings and not lost to the Golden Bears since March 26, 2000. On that day, Stanford dropped a 6-3 decision to California, but since then has captured the next 40 matchups, including one already this season, as the Cardinal beat the Golden Bears 7-6 in the UCI Invitational semifinal game back on Feb. 22.
THIRD STANFORD SWEEP: The Cardinal also took home both of the conference’s weekly awards when the MPSF/Kap7 Player and Newcomer of the Week were announced on Tuesday morning. Junior Maggie Steffens (player) and freshman Jordan Raney (newcomer) gave Stanford its third sweep of the MPSF honors, more than any other school. Junior Gabby Stone and freshman Katie Dudley first did it on Feb. 3 and sophomore Jamie Neushul and Raney followed on Mar. 10.
MPSF PICK: Stanford collected the maximum possible 36 points and six first-place votes to top the 2015 MPSF Women’s Water Polo Coaches’ Poll. UCLA was tabbed second with 31 points and secured the only other first-place vote while USC garnered 26 points and was selected third. California, Arizona State, San Jose State and CSU Bakersfield rounded out the preseason picks. The Cardinal has not lost an MPSF game since 2009, a stretch of 38 regular-season conference outings. Its last league loss came at USC on April 18, 2009 (11-6).
SEEING THE STATS: Stanford finds itself second in the MPSF in goals per game (14.52) behind USC (17.57) and third in goals allowed per game (4.67), trailing the Trojans (4.43) and UCLA (4.55). Individually, Kiley Neushul’s 50 goals place her fifth in goals per game (2.38). Ashley Grossman is sixth (2.29), Maggie Steffens is 12th (1.90) and Anna Yelizarova is 14th (1.82). Stanford is the only school with four players in the league’s top 15 in goals per game. Gabby Stone’s 4.91 goals against average is third in the conference and her 8.07 saves per game are fifth.
DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS: The Cardinal’s defense has been a constant ingredient in its success. Dating back to last year, Stanford has held its opponents under 10 goals in 38 consecutive games. The team has limited 11 of its 21 foes to four goals or less this season. Stanford has led the MPSF in goals allowed per game four out of the past five years.
OFFENSIVE ONSLAUGHT: Stanford’s output against CSU Bakersfield was its fifth time this season firing home 20 or more goals, the program’s most since it did so the same number in 1997 in what was its second year of varsity status. Entering this year, the Cardinal had reached that mark in a single game 11 times in the past 16 seasons. Stanford, which is currently scoring 14.52 goals per game, has never averaged more than 14 through an entire season. Last year’s 13.31 clip was a school record.
PLAYING HOST: For the third time, Stanford will host the National Collegiate Women’s Water Polo Championships from May 8-10, 2015 at Avery Aquatic Center. The Cardinal also hosted in 2004 when USC claimed the title and 2008 when UCLA took home the crown. Stanford will be looking to break a streak that has yet to see a host win the NCAA Championship since the tournament began in 2001.
APPROACHING MARKS: Stanford boasts four 100-goal scorers in Kiley Neushul (209), Ashley Grossman (163), Maggie Steffens (151) and Anna Yelizarova (104). Neushul is currently fourth in Cardinal history behind Melissa Seidemann (239), Lauren Silver (239) and Ellen Estes (214), while Grossman is 10th and Steffens is 11th. Next up for those two is Kelly Eaton (171).
THE STANDARD: The Cardinal’s win over San Jose State on Feb. 1 was the 500th in the history of the women’s water polo program and Stanford is now 515-82 (.863) all-time. Stanford, which was 108-7 during its recent run of national championships, has won at least 25 games each of the last eight seasons and has finished among the nation’s top three each and every season under John Tanner. The team is the only one that has made the NCAA’s every year since 2001.
BEST IN THE WORLD: In early December, junior Maggie Steffens was named the FINA Women’s Water Polo Athlete of the Year for the second time. The American beat out five other finalists in Kami Craig (USA), Maica Garcia (ESP), Giulia Gorlero (ITA), Rita Keszthelyi (HUN), and Rowie Webster (AUS). The science, technology and society major delivered 12 goals helping Team USA earn a second consecutive FINA World Cup crown in 2014. She was second on the team in scoring with 11 goals in a gold medal effort at the 2014 FINA World League Super Final. Steffens is the first female two-time winner of the award, which was inaugurated in 2010. She was also named the FINA Women’s Water Polo Athlete of the Year in 2012 before making her collegiate debut with the Cardinal.
IN THE POLLS: Stanford reclaimed the No. 1 spot in the national rankings (100 points), ahead of No. 2 UCLA (95 points) in this week’s CWPA Women’s Varsity Top 20 Poll. USC (91 points) California (85 points) and UC Irvine (79 points) round out the top five. Stanford was ranked No. 1 before the year and for the first five weeks of the season. UCLA had been No. 1 for the past seven weeks after its win over the Cardinal in Irvine.
STREAKING: Stanford’s 7-6 overtime loss to UCLA on Feb. 22 snapped the Cardinal’s 27-game winning streak dating back to 2014 and was the program’s first setback since it fell to the same Bruins (9-6) in Irvine on Feb. 23, 2014. The winning streak was the Cardinal’s longest since the program won 28 straight 14 years ago, its final game of 2000 and the first 27 of 2001. Stanford has only lost twice in its past 47, with both coming at the hands of UCLA.