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Women's Water Polo

No. 2 at No. 1

No. 2 Stanford (16-1, 3-0 MPSF) at No. 1 USC (25-0, 3-0 MPSF)
Saturday, April 8 • 5 p.m.
Uytengsu Aquatics Center • Los Angeles, Calif.
Statistics (PDF)
Television Pac-12 Network, Pac-12 Bay Area, Pac-12 Los Angeles

WHAT'S AHEADNo. 2 Stanford travels to Los Angeles for a key conference matchup at undefeated and No. 1 USC on Saturday, April 8 at 5 p.m. Greg Mescall and Chris Dorst have the call on Pac-12 Network, Pac-12 Bay Area and Pac-12 Los Angeles.


LOOKING BACKGabby Stone tied a career high with 15 saves and the Cardinal held No. 5 Cal to a season-low goal total to win Sunday's Big Splash in Berkeley 8-2. The two goals for the Golden Bears were the fewest Stanford has allowed to a top-5 opponent since it beat No. 4 UCLA 8-1 on April 6, 2013. Maggie Steffens and Makenzie Fischer each had hat tricks for Stanford while Madison Berggren chipped in a pair of scores.


AGAINST USCStanford is 31-32 all-time against the Trojans and lost the teams' only meeting this season in the championship of the Barbara Kalbus Invitational on Feb. 26, 10-9 in overtime. USC has won five straight against the Cardinal as part of its NCAA record 52-game winning streak, including in last year's NCAA title match. Stanford was the last team to beat USC, when it knocked them off 9-8 in the semifinals of the NCAA championship at Avery Aquatic Center on May 9, 2015.


MPSF PLAYER OF THE WEEKSenior goalkeeper Gabby Stone was named MPSF/Kap7 Player of the Week following her 15-save performance at Cal. Her saves snuffed out a number of Cal's 6-on-5 chances and the Golden Bears went just 1-for-7 on the power play. Stone's 15 stops tied her career high from March 29, 2015 against UC Davis and pushed her career total to 506, the fourth player in program history to surpass 500. It was her third career MPSF weekly honor.


WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME LATELY?Maggie Steffens has tallied hat tricks in each of Stanford's three MPSF wins, including a career-high seven goals against CSU Bakersfield on March 25, and is averaging 4.33 goals per game in conference (13 total). She has pushed her career goal total to 210, good for fifth in program history, and has been on a tear in the Cardinal's last 10 games, averaging 3.20 goals per outing (32 total).


STRONG STARTMakenzie Fischer collected her seventh hat trick of the season, and third against a top-5 opponent, in Stanford's win at Cal. It was the freshman's 11th multi-goal game of the year and seventh in Stanford's last 10 contests. Since Feb. 18, Fischer is averaging 2.60 goals per game. In the Cardinal's four games against top-5 opponents this season, she leads the way with 12 goals (3.00 GPG).


SEEING THE STATSStanford is third in the MPSF in goals per game (14.94), behind USC (16.24) and UCLA (16.00), and third in goals allowed per game (4.29), with UCLA (3.78) and USC (3.92) in the top two spots. Individually, Maggie Steffens is second in goals per game (2.71), Makenzie Fischer is fifth (2.24), Jamie Neushul is 16th (1.59) and Dani Jackovich and Kat Klass are tied for 20th (1.29). Gabby Stone's 4.28 goals against average is fourth in the conference and her 9.18 saves per game are fifth. Julia Hermann is third in goals against average (4.17) and ninth in saves per game (6.96).


APPROACHING MARKSStanford boasts a pair of triple-digit goal scorers in Maggie Steffens (210) and Jamie Neushul (124). Steffens is currently fifth in Cardinal history, seven behind Ellen Estes (214). Dani Jackovich has 99 career goals to her name and is one shy of joining Steffens and Neushul in triple digits. Last weekend Gabby Stone (506) 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 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. Arizona State (87 points) and California (84 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 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.