STANFORD, Calif. – The United States, led by the play of eight Cardinal, won its second consecutive FINA World Championship and fifth overall at the recently concluded tournament in Budapest, Hungary. Kiley Neushul scored four times in the final against Spain and was named MVP of the championship game.
Eight of the 13 on the U.S. roster in Hungary were standout Stanford players from the past, present and future. Neushul was joined on the podium by fellow alumnae Jamie Neushul, Melissa Seidemann, Maggie Steffens and Gabby Stone along with current undergraduates Makenzie Fischer and Jordan Raney and incoming freshman in Aria Fischer.
It was the second gold medal for Seidemann in her fourth appearance at the FINA World Championships (2011, 2013, 2015, 2017) following on the United States' 2015 title. Kiley Neushul and Steffens also collected their second golds in their third appearances at the event (2013, 2015, 2017) and Makenzie Fischer has won in each of her two trips to the World Championships (2015, 2017). Aria Fischer, Jamie Neushul, Raney and Stone debuted for their country at the biennial tournament.
Aria Fischer and Raney joined Makenzie Fischer as the only women to win FINA World Championships at each of the youth, junior and senior levels. The duo keyed U.S. titles at the 2014 World Youth Championships in Madrid and the 2015 World Junior Championships in Volos, Greece before adding this most recent medal to their impressive resumes. The elder Fischer was a gold medalist at the 2013 World Junior Championships in Volos, the aforementioned 2014 World Youth Championships in Madrid and 2015 World Championships in Kazan, Russia.
In Budapest, Stanford's seven offensive players accounted for 55 of the United States' 92 goals. Less than three months removed from her third NCAA national championship, Stone served as the team's primary goalkeeper and made 39 saves, including 11 each in a group stage win over Spain and a semifinal victory over Russia on July 26.
Stone became the second starting U.S. goalkeeper to win both a FINA World Championship and an NCAA title, joining Stanford's Jackie Frank, who won a collegiate championship in 2002 and a world crown in 2003.
Kiley Neushul paced the Stanford contingent in scoring with 13 goals over the six games. In addition to her four-goal outing in the 13-6 win over Spain to clinch the gold on July 28, she had hat tricks in group play against South Africa and Spain. She also scored twice in a 22-7 victory against New Zealand and tallied one to beat Russia in the semifinals 14-9.
Steffens accounted for 11 goals, five of which came in the 15-goal win over New Zealand to conclude the group stage. She scored three times against the Russians in the semifinals and twice in the final against Spain and chipped in another in the earlier meeting with Spain on July 18.
Jamie Neushul (nine goals) and Seidemann (seven goals) started off the two-week tournament with a pair of big performances in the opener against South Africa. Neushul scored six in the 24-2 win and Seidemann added five. Neushul also rattled the cage once in each of the next three games against Spain, New Zealand and Australia while Seidemann collected her two other goals in the quarterfinals against Australia on July 24 and in the tournament final.
The Fischer sisters and Raney each contributed five goals at the World Championships. Makenzie Fischer scored twice against South Africa and New Zealand and once in the final, Raney had her multi-goal efforts against New Zealand and Australia and also scored in the final and Aria Fischer scored twice in wins over South Africa and New Zealand and once in the group stage victory against Spain.
The United States retained its number one ranking in the world and remains in possession of all the major titles in the water polo world including the Olympic Games, FINA World Championship, FINA World Cup and FINA World League.