No. 2 Stanford (11-1, 1-0)
at No. 9 Arizona State (9-6, 0-0)
Saturday, March 9 • 12 p.m. PT
Mona Plummer Aquatic Center • Tempe, Ariz.
Live Stream • TheSunDevils.com
Live Stats • The FOSH
Stanford Statistics
WHAT'S AHEADNo. 2 Stanford plays its first conference road game of the season when it travels to No. 9 Arizona State on Saturday, March 9 at 12 p.m. PT. Live stats will be available via The FOSH and a free live stream will be provided at TheSunDevils.com.
WHAT JUST HAPPENEDThe Cardinal crushed Santa Clara at home last Friday night, 17-1, to up its record at Avery Aquatic Center to 102-9 since 2008. Madison Berggren tied a career high with four goals to reach 100 in her career and Sarah Klass rattled the cage four times as well. Stanford currently has three 100-goal scorers on its roster in Makenzie Fischer (168), Kat Klass (133) and Berggren.
AGAINST ARIZONA STATEThe Cardinal is 25-0 all-time against the Sun Devils and won last season's matchup at home, 10-4, behind five goals from Makenzie Fischer, two each from Berggren and Aria Fischer and one from Jordan Raney.
FANTASTIC FISCHERMakenzie Fischer is averaging 4.27 goals per game, has had multi-score efforts in 10 of her 11 matches this season and has been responsible for 24 percent of the Cardinal's scoring offense (47 of 197 goals) in the game's she's appeared. She's a full goal per game better than the No. 2 player in the MPSF (Emma Wright – Cal; 3.10) and nearly two goals per game better than No. 3 (Maddie Musselman – UCLA; 2.50). 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 (17.83), ahead of USC (14.65), and is second in goals allowed per game (5.50) trailing the Trojans (3.35). Individually, Fischer leads the league in goals per game (4.27) and Sarah Klass is fifth (2.42). Madison Stamen is ninth (2.08), Kat Klass is 10th (1.82), Aria Fischer is 11th (1.73) and Madison Berggren 19th (1.43). 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 (5.00) and 10th in saves per game (5.67).
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.