No. 1 Stanford (2-0) vs. No. 14 Long Beach State (0-0)
Sunday, Jan. 29 • 1 p.m.
Avery Aquatic Center • Stanford, Calif.
Statistics (PDF)
WHAT'S AHEADNo. 1 Stanford plays at home for the first time in 2017 when it hosts No. 14 Long Beach State on Sunday, Jan. 29 at 1 p.m. Admission is free.
LOUSTRONG MEMORIALThe Cardinal began its season with a pair of convincing wins at the LouStrong Memorial on Jan. 14. Stanford defeated No. 14 San Jose State, 17-1, before dispatching No. 17 UC Davis, 21-2. Sophomore Madison Berggren scored six combined goals in the two games, while Jamie Neushul and Dani Jackovich each scored four times. Returning after a year away from Stanford to train with the United States Women's Senior National Team, Gabby Stone returned to the cage and made seven saves in the opener. Goalkeeper Julia Hermann, an All-American in 2016, took over against UC Davis and made nine stops in the rout.
MPSF PLAYER OF THE WEEKStanford sophomore driver Madison Berggren was named MPSF/Kap7 Player of the Week following the LouStrong Memorial on Jan. 17. She scored twice in the opener against the Spartans and then poured in a career-high four later in the morning against the Aggies. Her four-goal outburst helped Stanford to its highest offensive output since March 20, 2015 against Harvard (23). It was the first weekly award of Berggren's career. As a freshman in 2016 she was named to the MPSF All-Newcomer team.
AT AVERYStanford is 87-6 at home since 2008.
LOOKING BACK TO 2016Stanford finished 23-6 overall, its 12th straight campaign with more than 20 wins, and advanced to the NCAA title game for the seventh consecutive season, but ultimately was unable to collect its third straight national championship. The Cardinal, which fell to USC on a goal in the waning seconds of the national final, finished runner-up for the seventh time (2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2010, 2013). Stanford has never finished lower than third at the NCAA Championships.
WHAT'S IN STOREDenied in its bid for the program's third consecutive national championship last season, Stanford will have an experienced roster with a wealth of firepower as it looks to reclaim the crown in 2017. The Cardinal returns seven of its nine 20-goal scorers from a year ago, including All-Americans Jamie Neushul, Jordan Raney, Kat Klass and Dani Jackovich, along with All-American goalkeeper Julia Hermann.
OLYMPIC ADDITIONSAdded to that group are a pair of Olympians in Maggie Steffens and Makenzie Fischer. Steffens, who was the 2015 ACWPC Player of the Year in her most recent collegiate season, returns to The Farm after collecting MVP honors in Rio and captaining the United States to its second straight Olympic gold. Joining her is the freshman Fischer, who deferred her enrollment at Stanford one year and logged seven goals for Team USA at the Olympics. Goalkeeper Gabby Stone, a two-time All-American, is also back for her senior season with the Cardinal after taking off the 2016 campaign to train with the United States Women's Senior National Team.
IN THE POLLSStanford maintained the top spot in the national rankings (98 points), ahead of No. 2 USC (96 points) in this week's CWPA Women's Varsity Top 20 Poll. UCLA (95 points) Cal (88 points) and Arizona State (83 points) round out the top five.
MPSF PICKStanford collected 33 points and four first-place votes to top the 2017 MPSF Women's Water Polo Coaches' Poll, which was released by the conference last week. It's the third consecutive year and seventh in the last eight that the Cardinal has been the league's preseason pick. USC was tabbed second with 30 points and one first-place vote, UCLA was third with 28 points and one first-place vote and California was fourth with 23 points and one first-place vote. Arizona State, San Jose State and CSU Bakersfield rounded out the poll in spots five through seven.