No. 2 Stanford at No. 7 Arizona State and ASU Invitational
Mona Plummer Aquatic Center • Tempe, Ariz.
Saturday, March 11 vs. No. 7 Arizona State • noon MT/11 a.m. PT
Saturday, March 11 vs. La Verne • 3:30 p.m. MT/2:30 p.m. PT
Sunday, March 12 vs. No. 23 Marist • 9 a.m. MT/9 a.m. PT
Statistics
WHAT'S AHEADNo. 2 Stanford (11-1) opens its MPSF schedule in Tempe, Ariz. against No. 7 Arizona State (12-3) on Saturday, March 11 at noon MT/11 a.m. PT. The Cardinal will get in two more games as part of the ASU Invitational, playing La Verne (6-3) on Saturday, March 11 at 3:30 p.m. PT/2:30 p.m. PT and No. 23 Marist (6-8) on Sunday, March 12 at 9 a.m. MT/9 a.m. PT.
LOOKING BACKStanford finished runner-up at the Barbara Kalbus Invitational in Irvine, Calif. two weeks ago. The Cardinal beat No. 22 CSUN 16-5, No. 8 Michigan 13-5 and No. 4 Cal 12-9 to set up the season's first 1v2 matchup in the final against USC. Stanford suffered its first loss of the season to the Trojans in overtime, 10-9. The teams, which have combined to win the past seven NCAA titles, were deadlocked 7-7 after 32 minutes. USC inched ahead 9-8 with a pair of goals in the first overtime period before Makenzie Fischer evened the score with less than a minute left in the second extra session. Maggie Steffens was whistled for an exclusion with 29 seconds to go and Ioanna Haralabidis converted in the 6-on-5 with just five ticks left to win it for USC.
MPSF NEWCOMER OF THE WEEKFor the second consecutive week and third time in four weeks, Stanford freshman Makenzie Fischer was named MPSF's top newcomer when the conference announced its honors on Feb. 28. Fischer was Stanford's second-leading scorer at the Barbara Kalbus Invitational. She poured in 11 goals in the four games (2.75 GPG), including five in the Cardinal's 12-9 semifinal win over No. 4 Cal and four in a 10-9 championship setback to No. 2 USC. The freshman is averaging 3.20 goals in her last five outings, including a pair of five-score efforts, and her 2.33 overall goals per game average this season is fifth in the MPSF.
STEFFENS STRONGMaggie Steffens continued her torrid pace of late and led Stanford with 13 goals at the Barbara Kalbus Invite. She scored three each against No. 22 CSUN and No. 8 Michigan, poured in four of the Cardinal's 12 in the semifinal against No. 4 Cal and tallied a hat trick in the championship against No. 2 USC. Steffens has a hat trick in each of her last five games and has upped her goals per game average this season to a team-best 2.50. Her 194 goals are fifth in program history, 20 behind fourth-place Ellen Estes.
SEEING THE STATSStanford is third in the MPSF in goals per game (14.83), behind USC (16.79) and UCLA (16.00), and third in goals allowed per game (5.17), with UCLA 3.69) and USC (3.84) in the top two spots. Individually, Maggie Steffens is tied for second in goals per game (2.50), Makenzie Fischer is fourth (2.33), Jamie Neushul is 12th (1.83) and Dani Jackovich tied for 17th (1.58). Gabby Stone's 5.13 goals against average is fifth in the conference and her 8.91 saves per game are sixth. Julia Hermann is fourth in goals against average (5.00) and 10th in saves per game (7.25).
APPROACHING MARKSStanford boasts a pair of 100-goal scorers in Maggie Steffens (194) and Jamie Neushul (119). Steffens is currently fifth in Cardinal history, 20 behind Ellen Estes (214). Dani Jackovich has 96 career goals to her name and is four shy of joining Steffens and Neushul in triple digits. Gabby Stone is 26 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 dropped to 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 (93 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.