No. 2 Stanford (10-1)
vs. Santa Clara (4-7)
Friday, March 1 • 6 p.m.
Avery Aquatic Center • Stanford, Calif.
Live Stats • The FOSH
Stanford Statistics
WHAT'S AHEADWith its regular-season, nonconference tournament schedule completed, No. 2 Stanford hosts a single match this week against Santa Clara on Friday, March 1 at 6 p.m.
WHAT JUST HAPPENEDThe Cardinal finished second at the Barbara Kalbus Invitational in Irvine last weekend. Stanford beat No. 21 CSUN, 18-4, No. 10 Pacific, 14-3, and No. 3 UCLA, 10-4, before falling in the title game to No. 1 USC, 10-8. Four-time champions at the tournament (2007, 2009, 2011, 2018), only one of the Cardinal's six national titles (2011) have overlapped with a BKI crown.
AT AVERYStanford is 101-9 at home since 2008.
AGAINST SANTA CLARAThe Cardinal is 7-0 all-time against the Broncos. Stanford won, 19-1, in the teams' most recent meeting at the Cal Speedo Cup on Feb. 18, 2017. Makenzie Fischer had five goals in that victory, Madison Berggren three and Kat Klass two.
FANTASTIC FISCHERMakenzie is averaging 4.27 goals per game, has had multi-score efforts in 10 of Stanford's 11 matches and has been responsible for 24 percent of the Cardinal's scoring offense (47 of 197 goals) this season. She's a full goal per game better than the No. 2 player in the MPSF (Emma Wright – Cal; 3.22) and nearly two goals per game better than No. 3 (Maddie Musselman – UCLA; 2.53). Fischer is four goals away from passing Kelly Eaton (2007-10) to move into 10th on the program's all-time scoring list.
SEEING THE STATSStanford tops the MPSF in goals per game (17.91), ahead of USC (14.65), and is second in goals allowed per game (5.91) trailing the Trojans (3.35). Individually, Fischer leads the league in goals per game (4.27) and Sarah Klass is fifth (2.27). Madison Stamen is ninth (2.00), Kat Klass is 10th (1.82) and Aria Fischer is 11th (1.73). Emalia Eichelberger's 6.60 goals against average is fifth in the conference and her 9.20 saves per game are third. Thea Walsh is third in goals against average (5.80) and ninth in saves per game (6.40).
WHAT'S IN STORE IN 2019Denied in its big for back-to-back national championships last May, Stanford is be in a strong position as it looks to reclaim the crown in 2019. The Cardinal returns its four leading goal scorers from a year ago in Makenzie Fischer (67), Kat Klass (39), Madison Berggren (36) and Aria Fischer (35) and welcomes more than 80 percent of its total scoring offense back into the fold (229 of 285) this season.
At the other end of the pool, Stanford must replace Julia Hermann in the cage as part of a class of four departed seniors. Hermann was a third-team All-American last season, finished second in the MPSF in goals against average (5.35) and had five of her seven double-digit save performances in the season's final seven games.
Stanford's six-person freshman class includes Youth National Team goalkeeper Thea Walsh and Junior National Team members Chloe Harbilas and Ryann Neushul. Neushul is the youngest sister of Stanford alums Kiley and Jamie Neushul, who each won three national championships with the Cardinal and combined for five first-team All-America honors.
HOSTING IT ALLAvery Aquatic Center is the place to be at the end of the season in late April and mid-May. Stanford will host the MPSF Championship from April 26-28 and the NCAA Championship from May 10-12. Last time Stanford hosted NCAA's in 2015, the Cardinal became the first host institution to win a national championship in its home pool.