2017 MPSF Women's Water Polo Championships
Spieker Aquatics Center • Los Angeles, Calif.
Quarterfinals • Friday, April 28 vs. CSU Bakersfield • 11 a.m.
Saturday, April 29 vs. TBD
Sunday, April 30 vs. TBD
Tournament Central
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WHAT'S AHEADNo. 2 Stanford (18-2, 5-1 MPSF) enters postseason play when it begins its MPSF Tournament in Los Angeles against No. 22 CSU Bakersfield (12-15, 0-6 MPSF) on Friday, April 28 at 11 a.m. The winner will advance to a Saturday semifinal at 12:45 p.m. against the winner of No. 3 USC (26-2, 4-2 MPSF) and No. 14 San Jose State (10-17, 1-5 MPSF).
Games from the Spieker Aquatics Center on UCLA's campus will be streamed live on FloSwimming.com.
MPSF TOURNAMENTStanford has won five conference tournament titles in program history (2000, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2014) and appeared in 13 championship games. The program is 48-17 (.738) all-time at the MPSF Tournament since 1997. Results from 1996 are not available.
As the No. 3 seed last season, the Cardinal scored the game's first seven goals and beat San Jose State 10-7 in a quarterfinal on April 29. The next afternoon it rode two goals from Dani Jackovich and two from Jamie Neushul to oust UCLA 6-3 one week after the Bruins nipped Stanford in sudden death overtime. USC poured in five fourth-quarter goals at the final in Bakersfield to knock off Stanford, 8-5.
Stanford was the top seed at the conference tournament every year from 2009 to 2015.
An MPSF Tournament title isn't an indicator of NCAA success, at least for the Cardinal. Despite winning four of the past six national championships, 2014 was the only season in which Stanford won both the league crown and the national one. It finished second in the 2012 MPSF Tournament and third place in both 2011 and 2015 before going on to win NCAA Championships.
LOOKING BACKJamie Neushul scored four goals in her final game at Avery Aquatic Center to lead Stanford to a 17-3 win over San Jose State on April 22. Stanford's seniors accounted for eight goals in the victory. Maggie Steffens scored the first two goals of the game and finished with three, while Dani Jackovich added a second-quarter strike for the other senior tally of the afternoon. Junior Jordan Raney matched Neushul with four goals for the Cardinal.
Saturday. Seniors. Stanford wins. Everything was great at Avery today. #GoStanford pic.twitter.com/jbLGZTlO0t
— Stanford Water Polo (@Stanfordh2opolo) April 22, 2017
AGAINST CSU BAKERSFIELDStanford beat the Roadrunners 19-2 earlier this season on March 25 behind a career-high seven goals from Maggie Steffens. Katie Dudley also had a hat trick for the Cardinal, which was playing its first game following its customary two-week break for finals.
NCAA HOSTOn April 18 Stanford was selected to host the 2019 National Collegiate Women's Water Polo Championships at Avery Aquatic Center. The Cardinal became the first host school to win a national championship when it captured the crown at home in 2015.
WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME LATELY?Maggie Steffens tallied hat tricks in four of Stanford's five MPSF wins and averaged 2.83 goals per game in conference (17 total). She has pushed her career goal total to 214, tied for fourth in program history with two-time Olympic medalist Ellen Estes, and eight shy of former Cardinal teammate and fellow 2016 Olympic gold medalist Kiley Neushul (222). Steffens has been on a tear in the Cardinal's last 13 games, averaging 2.77 goals per outing (36 total).
"@maggiesteffens is happy to share stories of setbacks & her desire to learn and be challenged." » JT#GoStanfordhttps://t.co/CeYsJ7gjPn
— Stanford Water Polo (@Stanfordh2opolo) April 26, 2017
STRONG STARTMakenzie Fischer's two-goal outing against San Jose State was her 10th multi-goal performance in Stanford's last 13 contests. In the Cardinal's six games against top-5 opponents this season, its freshman leads the way with 16 goals (2.67 GPG).
SEEING THE STATSStanford is third in the MPSF in goals per game (14.60), behind UCLA (15.33) and USC (15.25), and third in goals allowed per game (4.70), with UCLA (4.24) and USC (4.43) in the top two spots.
Individually, Maggie Steffens is third in goals per game (2.50) and Makenzie Fischer is fifth (2.20) making Stanford the only school in the league with a pair of players averaging over two goals per game.
Jamie Neushul is tied for 11th (1.75), Dani Jackovich is 20th (1.30) and Kat Klass 25th (1.20). Gabby Stone's 4.91 goals against average is fourth in the conference and her 9.05 saves per game are fifth. Julia Hermann is second in goals against average (4.04) and ninth in saves per game (7.24).
APPROACHING MARKSStanford boasts a trio of triple-digit goal scorers in Maggie Steffens (214), Jamie Neushul (132) and Dani Jackovich (103). Steffens is currently tied for fourth in Cardinal history with Ellen Estes (214), eight behind Kiley Neushul (222). Earlier this season goalkeeper Gabby Stone (530) became 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 now fourth with 523.
IN THE POLLSStanford remained No. 2 in the national rankings (96 points) behind No. 1 UCLA (100 points) and ahead of No. 3 USC (92 points) in this week's CWPA Women's Varsity Top 25 Poll. Arizona State (87 points) and California (84 points) round out the top five.
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 has 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.
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 on Jan. 4. 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.