No. 2 Stanford (14-1, 2-0)
at No. 1 USC (20-0, 2-0)
Saturday, March 30 • 2 p.m. PT
Uytengsu Aquatics Center • Los Angeles, Calif.
Television • Pac-12 Networks
Live Stats • The FOSH
Stanford Statistics
WHAT'S AHEADNo. 2 Stanford travels to Los Angeles for a key conference matchup at undefeated and No. 1 USC on Saturday, March 30 at 2 p.m. Greg Mescall has the call on Pac-12 Bay Area and Pac-12 Los Angeles.
WHAT JUST HAPPENEDThe Cardinal upped its home record to 104-9 since 2008 with a pair of victories over No. 18 Harvard and No. 10 UC Irvine. Stanford returned from its customary two-week break for final exams to beat the Crimson, 20-7, on Saturday afternoon and returned to days later to top No. 10 UC Irvine, 16-7, in its 2019 Pac-12 Networks debut.
MPSF PLAYER OF THE WEEK Aria Fischer was named MPSF/Kap7 Player of the Week for the first time in her career when the conference announced its weekly honors on Tuesday afternoon.
Fischer did everything in Stanford's 20-7 victory over No. 18 Harvard. She scored four goals for the fourth time this season, included two on back-handed attempts at two meters and also added a team-high three assists, a team-high two steals, a field block and a team-high three earned exclusions in the victory.
She also had another hat trick in the Cardinal's 16-7 win against No. 10 UC Irvine on Monday, but those stats will be factored into next Tuesday's player of the week announcement.
AGAINST USCStanford is 35-36 all-time against the Trojans (records since 1997) and USC has won four straight, including a 5-4 victory in last season's national championship. In the Cardinal's last MPSF game at USC on April 8, 2017, Stanford snapped the Trojans' NCAA-record 52-match winning streak with a 12-8 win. That was the first time a road team had won at Uytengsu Aquatics Center since the Cardinal did so on March 8, 2015 (12-9). It was also USC's last home defeat. USC's last three losses (since 2017) have all been on Stanford on April 29, 2017 (6-5), May 12, 2017 (11-10) and Feb. 25, 2018 (9-3). Stanford's last four losses (since 2018) have all been to USC on April 13, 2018 (8-5), April 29, 2018 (13-12), May 13, 2018 (5-4) and Feb. 24, 2019 (10-8).
The teams met earlier this year in the final of the Barbara Kalbus Invitational on Feb. 24. USC went on a three-goal run midway through the fourth quarter to break a 7-7 tie and Stanford lost its only game of the season. Stanford had erased a two-goal deficit with a 6-on-5 score from Cassidy Wiley late in the third quarter (2:08) and an even-strength strike from Kat Klass in the fourth (5:37) to even things at 7-7 before USC went on its game-clinching run.
Aided by a couple of turnovers that led to 1v0 and 2v1 opportunities, the Trojans scored three times in less than a minute to put the game away. Denise Mammolito (5:15), Tilly Kearns (4:55) and Paige Hauschild (4:22) rattled the cage to give USC its largest lead, 10-7, with just over a half a quarter to play.
CARDINAL TO CHINANo strangers to representing Stanford on a global stage, the Cardinal women's water polo program announced a summer trip to China on March 22 for two weeks of sports diplomacy - water polo, student exchanges and exploration.
Running from June 23 – July 8, the Cardinal will start and end the trip training with and competing against the Chinese National Team. In between, the team will tour sites in an around Chengdu, where they are being hosted by China's Water Polo Federation, and also visit the Tibetan Plateau of Western Sichuan province.
Stanford's preparations for the trip began in earnest weeks ago with the formation of a robust seminar series covering Chinese history, culture and language, Sino-American relations, development economics examining health and education in rural China, entrepreneurship and diplomacy.
FULL STORY: stanford.io/2UQgvQB
FANTASTIC FISCHERMakenzie Fischer is averaging 3.92 goals per game, has had multi-score efforts in 12 of her 14 matches this season and has been responsible for 22 percent of the Cardinal's scoring offense (57 of 260 goals). She's nearly a full goal per game better than the No. 2 player in the MPSF (Emma Wright – Cal; 3.00). Fischer is tied with Katie Hansen (2004-07) for eighth on the program's all-time scoring list with 178. Annika Dries (2010-11, 2013-14) is next on the list with 183.
SEEING THE STATSStanford tops the MPSF in goals per game (17.43), ahead of USC (14.70), and is second in goals allowed per game (5.71) trailing the Trojans (3.90). Individually, Fischer leads the league in goals per game (3.92) and Sarah Klass is eighth (2.14). Aria Fischer is ninth (2.00), Madison Berggren is 11th (1.88), Madison Stamen is 12th (1.86), Kat Klass is 13th (1.77) and Ryann Neushul 23rd (1.29). Emalia Eichelberger's 6.62 goals against average is fourth in the conference and her 9.08 saves per game are fourth. Thea Walsh is second in goals against average (5.23) and ninth in saves per game (6.15).
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.