No. 2 Stanford (15-2, 2-2)
at No. 19 San Jose State (9-16, 0-4)
Sunday, April 22 • Noon
West Valley College • Saratoga, Calif.
Statistics
WHAT'S AHEADNo. 2 Stanford (15-2, 2-2 MPSF) closes out its regular season on the road when it plays at No. 19 San Jose State (9-16, 0-4 MPSF) at West Valley College in Saratoga, Calif. on Sunday, April 22 at noon.
MPSF TOURNAMENT SEEDINGThe top two seeds in the upcoming MPSF Tournament are set (USC and Cal). Stanford would solidify the No. 3 seed with a UCLA loss on Saturday at USC or Cardinal a win on Sunday.
WHAT JUST HAPPENEDStanford split its final two home games of 2018 last weekend, losing 8-5 to No. 2 USC on Friday, April 13 before bouncing back to dispatch No. 6 Arizona State 10-4 on Sunday, April 15. Aria Fischer had two goals against the Trojans and Stanford was within one midway through the third quarter, but USC scored three unanswered to pull away and win. Makenzie Fischer scored five times in the win over ASU and was backed up by two-goal efforts from sister Aria Fischer and Madison Berggren. Jordan Raney, who was celebrated in a pregame ceremony along with fellow seniors Shannon Cleary, Katie Dudley and Julia Hermann, added a goal as well.
Sunday Funday. ?????? #GoStanford
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AGAINST SAN JOSE STATEStanford is 45-0 all-time against San Jose State (records since 1997). The two schools played earlier this season on Jan. 28, a 15-4 Cardinal victory. Aria Fischer scored a season-high four goals while Madison Berggren had her first of four hat tricks this year.
YEAR TWOSophomore Makenzie Fischer, who is third in the MPSF averaging 2.47 goals per game, has scored 19 in her last five (3.8 GPG), including three-five goal outings, and 42 total. She's had multi-score performances in 13 of Stanford's 17 games this season and in all but 12 of the 43 games she's played the past year-plus. Fischer has scored nine goals in four league games and leads the MPSF in goals per game in conference (2.25 GPG).
CENTURY MARKWith 96 career goals, Fischer is close to joining Kat Klass among active Cardinal in triple digits. Klass collected her 14th career hat trick at UC Santa Barbara on March 28. She rattled the cage for the 100th time in her career with 1:16 on the clock in the third quarter and currently has 103.
BACK IN THE CAGERedshirt senior Julia Hermann returns as Stanford's full-time starting goalkeeper in place of the graduated Gabby Stone. When Stone took off the 2016 season to train with the United States, Hermann was one of the best in the country. She posted a 5.67 goals against average in 110.809 quarters and made 244 saves, an average of 8.81 per game and the highest total at Stanford since 2001. A third-team All-American that year, Hermann had 10 double-digit save performances, made 31 saves in three games at the NCAA championships in Los Angeles and was voted the tournament's best goalkeeper.
SEEING THE STATSStanford is second in the MPSF goals per game (12.18) behind USC (12.71) and second in goals allowed per game (4.35), also trailing the Trojans. Individually, Makenzie Fischer is third in goals per game (2.47), Kat Klass is tied for sixth (1.71), Madison Berggren 10th (1.65) and Aria Fischer 16th (1.47). Julia Hermann's 4.78 goals against average is second in the conference and her 8.11 saves per game are sixth.
HALLS OF FAMEFour-time Olympic medalist Brenda Villa will be inducted into both the International Swimming and USA Water Polo Halls of Fame in the coming months. A member of the Cardinal from 2001-03, Villa scored 173 goals and was three-time first team All-America selection and the 2001 National Player of the Year. An integral part of Stanford's first national championship team in 2002, Villa was named the Peter J. Cutino Award winner as the nation's top collegiate women's water polo player.
A four-time Olympian and two-time Olympic captain, Villa earned gold at the 2012 London Olympics, silver at the 2008 Beijing and 2000 Sydney Games and bronze in the 2004 Athens Games. A member of the U.S. Senior National Team from 1996-2012, Villa also boasts three FINA World Championships gold medals, five FINA World League Super Final titles and another three Pan American Championships golds.LOOKING BACK TO 2017Maggie Steffens scored the game winner with nine seconds left and Stanford won the program's sixth NCAA championship with an 8-7 victory over UCLA on May 14 in Indianapolis. The championship was the Cardinal's sixth overall and fifth in the past seven seasons. Stanford, the only team to appear in all 17 NCAA championships since its inception in 2001, has racked up a record of 36-11 postseason record.
WHAT'S IN STOREStanford will again be in strong position to repeat in 2018. Despite losing three of its top four scorers, the Cardinal returns a pair of 2017 All-Americans in Makenzie Fischer and Jordan Raney along with 20-goal scorers Kat Klass, Madison Berggren and Katie Dudley.
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Among six departed seniors, Stanford must replace a quartet of All-Americans in Maggie Steffens, Jamie Neushul, Dani Jackovich and Gabby Stone. Julia Hermann, a 2016 All-American while Stone was away training with the U.S. women's national team, will resume her place in the cage for the Cardinal.BACK IN THE CAGERedshirt senior Julia Hermann returns as Stanford's full-time starting goalkeeper in place of the graduated Gabby Stone. When Stone took off the 2016 season to train with the United States, Hermann was one of the best in the country. She posted a 5.67 goals against average in 110.809 quarters and made 244 saves, an average of 8.81 per game and the highest total at Stanford since 2001. A third-team All-American that year, Hermann had 10 double-digit save performances, made 31 saves in three games at the NCAA championships in Los Angeles and was voted the tournament's best goalkeeper.
SUMMER WITH USAWPJordan Raney received her first senior women's national team action this summer and won gold at the FINA World Championships in Budapest with current teammates Makenzie and Aria Fischer and Stanford alums Jamie Neushul, Kiley Neushul, Melissa Seidemann, Maggie Steffens, Gabby Stone.
???? #GoStanford #SUTaipei2017
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The United States won gold at the 2017 World University Games in Taipei in August behind the play of eight Cardinal. Current undergrads Madison Berggren, Aria Fischer, Kat Klass and Jordan Raney were joined by alumnae Dani Jackovich, Jamie Neushul, Kiley Neushul and Gabby Stone as the U.S. rolled to eight wins and outscored its opponents 127 to 38.
Freshman Sarah Klass and the United States finished fifth at the FINA Junior World Championship in Greece in September. Klass played in all seven games and scored six times on 15 shots to go along with a pair of assists.IN THE POLLSStanford dropped to No. 2 in the CWPA poll released Wednesday. USC tops the list with 100 points. The Cardinal has 96 points and is followed by Cal (92 points), UCLA (88 points) and Hawaii (84 points).