The No. 2 Stanford women’s water polo team made the most of its first spring break trip by earning four wins this weekend, including a sweep through the Arizona State University Invitational.
After returning from its finals hiatus with an 18-5 win over Harvard at home on Friday night, the Cardinal (18-1, 3-0 MPSF) easily defeated No. 3 Arizona State, Colorado State and No. 19 Hartwick in Tempe, Ariz.
Dominating starts were the trend for Stanford as the Cardinal outscored its opponents 20-2 in the first period over the four games.
Thirteen days off didn’t pose any problems as Stanford jumped out to an early lead against the Crimson and never looked back. Freshman Maggie Steffens had four goals on the day, including three in the first period as the Cardinal took an 8-0 lead to open the game.
Stanford received contributions from all over the pool — in addition to Steffens, junior Kaley Dodson, sophomore Kiley Neushul and senior Melissa Seidemann all recorded hat tricks. Sophomore Cory Dodson added two goals, and sophomore Ashley Grossman, senior Alexis Lee and junior Kaitlyn Lo also got on the scoresheet.
The Cardinal’s defense would keep Harvard off the board until about five minutes before halftime. Immediately after the break, Stanford would add four more goals to extend the lead to 12-1. The teams traded goals before Stanford closed the game on a 3-0 run to grab the 18-5 victory.
All three Cardinal goalkeepers contributed, as senior Kate Baldoni and freshman Gabby Stone made two saves apiece and sophomore Emily Dorst recorded one.
The location was different, but it was the same story on Sunday in Arizona, as Stanford routed Arizona State 17-7 and Colorado State by a 16-6 score.
In the first period against the Sun Devils, the Cardinal again held its opponent scoreless while tallying four goals of its own behind two five-meter penalties from Steffens and shots from Neushul and Seidemann. Both Steffens and Neushul would record hat tricks in the game.
Arizona State fought back in the second period as the teams scored three goals apiece to bring the game to 7-3. Stanford then added two more goals from Lo and junior Annika Dries to take a 9-3 lead into halftime.
The Sun Devils scored twice in the third period to cut the lead to 10-5, but Stanford scored seven goals in the final quarter to seal the victory. Eight Cardinal players got on the scoresheet for the game.
Baldoni started the match and made 10 saves over the first three quarters before Stone stepped in and made one save in the final eight minutes.
Against Colorado State, Seidemann staked the Cardinal to an early 4-0 lead by scoring three of her five goals for the game in the first six minutes.
The Rams were able to hang close until Stanford went on a 5-0 run around the halftime break to push the score to 10-2. Besides Seidemann’s five, Dries, Lo and freshman Anna Yelizarova tallied twice each, and Corey Dodson, Neushul, Steffens and freshman Gupreet Sohi added a goal apiece.
Dorst recorded three saves over the first three quarters before Stone again took over and made one save in the fourth quarter.
In Monday morning’s matchup against Hartwick, Dries scored just 40 seconds into the game as Stanford exploded for seven goals in the opening period en route to a 13-4 victory.
Dorst and Stone split time in net and combined for 11 saves to hold the Hawks to just four goals.
On offense, Seidemann and Steffens led the way with their third hat tricks of the weekend while Kaley Dodson put together her second. Yelizarova also chipped in two goals, and Grossman added one.
The second and third quarters were quiet by the team’s usual standards, as Stanford outscored Hartwick just 3-2. But the Cardinal scored three goals to the Hawks’ one in the fourth quarter to end the weekend with a comfortable 13-4 win.
The Cardinal will continue their vacation travels with a trip to Hawaii for four games this upcoming weekend. Stanford will face UC-San Diego and UC-Santa Barbara on Friday and San Diego State and Hawai’i on Saturday.
Contact Jana Persky at [email protected].