No. 1 Stanford (15-1, 3-0)
vs. No. 3 UCLA (20-3, 3-0)
Saturday, April 6 • 3 p.m. PT
Avery Aquatic Center • Stanford, Calif.
Television • Pac-12 Networks
Live Stats • The FOSH
Stanford Statistics
WHAT'S AHEADThe nation's new No. 1, Stanford (15-1, 3-0) hosts No. 3 UCLA (20-3, 3-0) for a key conference matchup on Saturday, April 6 at 3 p.m. Greg Mescall has the call on Pac-12 Bay Area and Pac-12 Los Angeles.
WHAT JUST HAPPENEDStanford went on the road to USC and snapped the Trojans' 36-game winning streak with a 9-8 overtime victory last Saturday. The Cardinal erased a three-goal deficit heading into the fourth quarter (7-4) and held USC scoreless in overtime to hand the Trojans their first home loss since 2017, when Stanford ended their NCAA-record 52-match winning streak (12-8).
MPSF NEWCOMER OF THE WEEKRyann Neushul 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.
Neuhsul scored twice in Stanford's win at USC and was a force in front of the cage, drawing five of USC's 12 exclusions in the game.
She earned her second kick-out early in the second quarter and then scored Stanford's first goal on the ensuing power play. Sarah Klass scored on the 6-on-5 resulting from Neushul's third drawn exclusion in the fourth quarter to pull the Cardinal within one, 7-6.
Neushul herself brought Stanford even, 7-7, when she scored her second with 2:04 remaining in regulation. Stanford erased a three-goal deficit heading into the fourth quarter to force overtime and eventually won to snap USC's 36-game winning streak. Earlier in the week she had a goal and a steal in Stanford's 16-7 win over No. 10 UC Irvine on March 25.
AGAINST UCLAStanford is 49-31 all-time against UCLA (records since 1997) and has won four in a row. Earlier this season, Stanford scored the game's first five goals and beat the Bruins 10-4 in the semifinals of the Barbara Kalbus Invitational in Irvine on Feb. 23. UCLA won on its last trip to Stanford on April 15, 2017, 10-9. The Cardinal is 11-4 against the Bruins in the last 15 meetings at Avery Aquatic Center.
AT AVERYStanford is 104-9 at home since 2008.
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 4.00 goals per game, has had multi-score efforts in 13 of her 15 matches this season and has been responsible for 22 percent of the Cardinal's scoring offense (60 of 269 goals). She's more than a full goal per game better than the No. 2 player in the MPSF (Emma Wright – Cal; 3.86). Fischer is eighth on the program's all-time scoring list with 181. Annika Dries (2010-11, 2013-14) is next on the list with 183.
SEEING THE STATSStanford tops the MPSF in goals per game (16.81), ahead of USC (14.38), and is second in goals allowed per game (5.94) trailing the Trojans (4.14). Individually, Fischer leads the league in goals per game (4.00) and Sarah Klass is seventh (2.06). Aria Fischer is ninth (1.93), Madison Berggren is 11th (1.70), Kat Klass is 12th (1.67), Madison Stamen is 13th (1.63) and Ryann Neushul 22nd (1.31). Emalia Eichelberger's 6.76 goals against average is fourth in the conference and her 9.36 saves per game are third. Thea Walsh is second in goals against average (5.19) and ninth in saves per game (6.07).
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.