STANFORD, Calif. – Behind the play of current Cardinal Maggie Steffens, future Stanford women’s water polo player Makenzie Fischer and three alumnae in Ashley Grossman ’15, Kiley Neushul ’15 and Melissa Seidemann ’13, the USA Women’s Senior National Team won gold at the 2015 FINA World League Super Final in Shanghai, China Sunday.
The United States finished the event undefeated, securing wins over Brazil (16-3), Canada (9-3) and the Netherlands (8-3) in group play before taking down Russia (17-6), the Dutch again (8-5) and Australia (8-7) in the quarterfinals, semifinals and final. Team USA won the FINA World League Super Final crown for the ninth time. This was the first of three major championships this summer for the United States. The Pan American Games and FINA World Championships are on the docket in July and early August.
Stanford’s five-woman contingent on the 13-member roster was responsible for half of Team USA’s 66 goals over the six games. Fischer put home 10, Neushul added nine, Steffens contributed eight, Grossman scored five and Seidemann tallied one.
Three United States players, including two Cardinal, registered hat tricks in Shanghai, starting with Fischer’s in the tournament-opener against Brazil on June 9, a 16-3 USA win. Neushul scored five in a 17-6 quarterfinal victory over Russia on June 12, a single-game high for the United States at the event.
A photo posted by Maggie Steffens (@mags_steff) on Jun 15, 2015 at 3:59am PDT
Steffens and Grossman added two apiece against the Russians and Fischer tallied one. Grossman and Fischer each scored twice in the semifinal win over the Netherlands on June 13 and Steffens and Fischer were responsible for scores in the championship against Australia.
While these four with Stanford ties are representing their country in China, the entire current Cardinal squad will do so at the 2015 World University Games in Gwangju, South Korea this July. On May 1, Stanford officials announced that the university’s women’s water polo program will represent the United States at the biennial event, which incorporates both educational and cultural aspects into 12 days of sports competitions and features more than 9,000 student-athletes and officials from over 170 countries.