STANFORD, Calif. – Maggie Steffens was named one of three finalists for the prestigious Peter J. Cutino Award, The Olympic Club of San Francisco announced Thursday. This award is given to the outstanding female and male collegiate water polo players in the United States as voted by the coaches of the Division I schools.
Five Stanford women have earned the honor seven times, including five of the last six years. Kiley Neushul (2015, 2012), Annika Dries (2014, 2011), Melissa Seidemann (2013), Jackie Frank (2003) and Brenda Villa (2002) are Stanford student-athletes to collect the award, which was instituted in 1999.
The winners will be announced at the 18th Annual Cutino Awards Dinner to be held Saturday, June 3 at The Olympic Club's City Clubhouse. Steffens, who has been a finalist in each of her collegiate seasons, is up for the award along with Rachel Fattal of UCLA and Ashleigh Johnson of Princeton.
Considered the Heisman Trophy of water polo, the Cutino Award is given annually in honor of the late Peter J. Cutino, the former California and The Olympic Club coach, who passed away in September 2004. He is in the U.S. Water Polo Hall of Fame, won "Water Polo Coach of the Year" 17 times and led the Golden Bears to eight NCAA Championships. In his career, Cutino also coached in the Olympic Games, the Pan American Games, the Water Polo World Championships and the World University Games.
A two-time Olympic gold medalist, two-time Olympic MVP and two-time FINA Women's Water Polo Athlete of the Year, Steffens has never won the Cutino Award. She was named the ACWPC National Player of the Year in 2015, is a three-time first-team All-American and two-time MPSF Player of the Year.
Steffens leads the Cardinal with 55 goals this season, has scored in 20 games and has 14 multi-goal efforts. She is third in the MPSF in goals per game (2.39) and her 219 career goals are fourth in Stanford history.
The senior will be going for her third NCAA championship with the Cardinal in Indianapolis this weekend. No. 2 Stanford, which has won five titles and four of the last six, begins with No. 8 Pacific (21-8) at 3:30 p.m. ET/12:30 p.m. PT on Friday with the winner advancing to play either No. 3 USC or No. 7 Michigan in the semifinals on Saturday, May 13 at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT. The championship is on Sunday, May 14 at 3 p.m. ET/noon PT.
