STANFORD, Calif. – Jamie Neushul scored five times, Gabby Stone made 15 saves and the No. 1 Cardinal won with 2017 Stanford Invitational on Sunday with victories over No. 6 UC Irvine and No. 4 Cal.
Stanford beat the Anteaters 11-4 to win its bracket and set up a showdown with the Golden Bears in the final. The Cardinal never trailed against its cross-bay rival and won 10-7 to up its record to 7-0 on the year.
The wins improved Stanford's record at Avery Aquatic Center to 92-6 since 2008. The Cardinal is back in action on Saturday, Feb. 18 when it plays Santa Clara in Berkeley at the Cal Speedo Cup.
No. 1 Stanford 11 – No. 6 UC Irvine 4
Multi-goal efforts from Dani Jackovich, Jamie Neushul and Jordan Raney helped Stanford close out group play with an 11-4 win over UC Irvine.
Up 5-2 at halftime, the Cardinal exploded for five goals in the third and didn't allow a score to take a 10-2 lead into the final quarter. Madison Berggren scored a 5:57, Makenzie Fischer at 3:58 and Jackovich at 3:36 before Kat Klass converted a penalty with 2:04 on the clock. Raney closed out the period with second goal of the game 20 seconds before the buzzer sounded.
Neushul scored the first two for Stanford in the opening period, converting in the 6-on-5 at 7:38 and another at even strength three minutes later. Irvine's McKenna Mitchell and Stanford's Maggie Steffens traded goals a minute apart and the Cardinal led 3-1 after one.
The first six minutes of the second period were scoreless until Gabby Pierandozzi was excluded and Jackovich converted on the power play for Stanford. Irvine and Keana Eldridge would score with 20 seconds before the half, but Raney answered on the next possession nine seconds later to put her team up 5-2 at the break.
Gabby Stone played the first three quarters and made eight saves while Julia Hermann came on in the fourth and made a pair of stops.
No. 1 Stanford vs. No. 6 UC Irvine
Feb. 5, 2017 • Stanford, Calif.
UCI 1 – 1 – 0 – 2 = 4
STAN 3 – 2 – 5 – 1 = 11
Stanford Goals: Dani Jackovich 2, Jamie Neushul 2, Jordan Raney 2, Madison Berggren, Makenzie Fischer, Kat Klass, Sophia Monaghan, Maggie Steffens
Stanford Saves: Gabby Stone 7, Julia Hermann 2
No. 1 Stanford 10 – No. 4 California 7
Stanford scored the game's first four goals and Cal the next four to even things up, but the Cardinal closed the final 21:21 on a 6-2 run to win the Stanford Invitational with a 10-7 victory over Cal.
Kat Klass and Jamie Neushul each had hat tricks for Stanford, which raced out to an early four-goal lead behind scores from Jamie Neushul, Jordan Raney, Katie Dudley and a successful penalty from Kat Klass. The Cardinal was up 4-0 with just 16 seconds left in the opening period until Dora Antal got Cal on the board with four seconds on the clock.
The Golden Bears carried that momentum into the second quarter and tied things up with 5:21 to go after goals from Emma Wright and two more of Antal's game-high four.
Neushul nudged the Cardinal back in front in the 6-on-5 with 3:09 to go until intermission. Neushul would assist on Dani Jackovich's power play tally with six seconds on the clock and Stanford led 6-4 at the half.
Antal rattled the cage at 5:21 in the third, but then Cal's offensive force would remain quiet the remainder of the game. Antal was excluded at 3:14 and Kat Klass converted at 2:50. One minute later Wright was excluded and Maggie Steffens scored to give Stanford an 8-5 lead after three.
Neushul and Klass completed their hat tricks with four-quarter strikes.
Stanford was 6-for-9 on the power play against Cal and Gabby Stone made eight saves.
No. 1 Stanford vs. No. 4 California
Feb. 5, 2017 • Stanford, Calif.
CAL 1 – 3 – 1 – 2 = 7
STAN 4 – 2 – 2 – 2 = 10
Stanford Goals: Kat Klass 3, Jamie Neushul 3, Katie Dudley, Dani Jackovich, Jordan Raney, Maggie Steffens
Stanford Saves: Gabby Stone 8
