No. 2 Stanford (14-1, 1-0 MPSF) vs. CSU Bakersfield (12-12, 0-4 MPSF)
Saturday, March 25 • 1 p.m.
Avery Aquatic Center • Stanford, Calif.
Statistics (PDF)
WHAT'S AHEADHome for the first time in nearly two months, No. 2 Stanford returns to Avery Aquatic Center to host CSU Bakersfield in MPSF action on Saturday, March 25 at 1 p.m.
LOOKING BACKStanford won its conference opener on the road at No. 7 Arizona State 9-3 on March 11 and then finished its trip to the desert with two wins at the ASU Invitational over La Verne (21-3) and No. 23 Marist (19-1).
MPSF PLAYER OF THE WEEKMaggie Steffens scored six times in Stanford's three wins in Tempe, including a hat trick against Arizona State, to win MPSF/Kap7 Player of the Week honors on March 14. She leads Stanford with 36 goals this season and her 2.40 goals per game average this season is third in the league. Steffens has had a hat trick in six of the Cardinal's last eight games and in her last outing she became the fifth player in program history with 200 career goals. It was the fifth weekly award of the senior's career. She was named the league's player of the week once each in 2014 and 2015 and collected a pair of newcomer of the week nods as a freshman in 2013.
AT AVERYStanford is 92-6 at home since 2008.
SEEING THE STATSStanford is third in the MPSF in goals per game (15.13), behind USC (16.33) and UCLA (15.67), and third in goals allowed per game (4.60), with UCLA (3.80) and USC (3.95) in the top two spots. Individually, Maggie Steffens is third in goals per game (2.40), Makenzie Fischer is sixth (2.20), Jamie Neushul is 13th (1.73) and Dani Jackovich and Kat Klass are tied for 19th (1.40). Gabby Stone's 4.65 goals against average is fourth in the conference and her 8.46 saves per game are sixth. Julia Hermann is third in goals against average (4.36) and 10th in saves per game (6.55).
APPROACHING MARKSStanford boasts a pair of triple-digit goal scorers in Maggie Steffens (200) and Jamie Neushul (123). Steffens is currently fifth in Cardinal history, 14 behind Ellen Estes (214). Dani Jackovich has 98 career goals to her name and is two shy of joining Steffens and Neushul in triple digits. Gabby Stone is 17 saves away from becoming the fourth player in Stanford history with 500 stops. With records dating back to 2001, Meridith McColl top the record book with 715, Kate Baldoni is second with 572 and Jackie Frank third with 523.
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 remained at No. 2 in the national rankings (96 points), behind No. 1 USC (100 points) and ahead of No. 3 UCLA (92 points) in this week's CWPA Women's Varsity Top 20 Poll. Cal (88 points) and UC Irvine (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.