STANFORD, Calif. – Three-time NCAA champion and two-time national player of the year Maggie Steffens was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America At-Large second team on Thursday. Steffens is the first Stanford women's water polo player to receive academic All-America recognition from CoSIDA.
A science, technology and society major with a 3.59 GPA, Steffens is a two-time Olympic gold medalist, two-time Olympic MVP and two-time FINA Women's Water Polo Athlete of the Year. She collected her second ACWPC Player of the Year award on Monday after leading Stanford to its sixth NCAA championship last month in Indianapolis. In the final against UCLA Steffens forced a Bruin turnover with 14 seconds left and scored the game winner with nine seconds remaining to power the Cardinal to its crown.
Also a two-time MPSF Player of the Year and two-time NCAA Tournament MVP, Steffens led Stanford with a career-high 65 goals this season, tied for the fifth-most in Stanford single-season history, and was third in the MPSF in goals per game (2.50). She scored in a team-high 23 games and had a personal-best 15 hat tricks as part of her 17 multi-goal performances.
Steffens, who is Stanford's only four-time, first-team All-American, finished her career third in program history and 20th in MPSF history in goals scored (229). In four seasons on The Farm, Steffens and the Cardinal went 102-9 overall and 23-1 in conference play. She finished her career with a goals per game average of 2.06 and was best when it mattered most, scoring 30 times in 12 career NCAA Tournament games (2.50 goals per game).
Already a three-time academic All-American with the ACWPC, Steffens will earn her bachelor's from Stanford in science, technology and society with a concentration in innovations and organizations. Currently with the U.S. Women's National Team in Shanghai for the FINA World League Super Final, she will be on campus next year to pursue her master's in management science and engineering.