Top-ranked Stanford women’s water polo (7-1) returned to the Avery Aquatic Center for the first time this season to host the Stanford Invitational this past weekend. The team picked up three wins against No. 7 Michigan, No. 8 San Jose State and No. 15 Loyola Marymount before falling to No. 5 California in its final match of the tournament, resulting in a second-place overall finish.
The Cardinal kicked off Saturday with a convincing 12-7 victory over the Wolverines.
With the score tied in the first quarter, sophomore Katie Dudley fired off a goal to give Stanford the lead. From there, the team racked up another four goals to establish a 7-2 advantage early in the second quarter. Senior driver Rachel Johnson set up each of the final three goals of the streak and sophomore Jordan Raney scored three to complete her second career hat trick.
Although Stanford led 9-4 at the half, Michigan surged, holding the Cardinal scoreless while scoring three goals to narrow Stanford’s lead to two. In the fourth, Stanford put up three more goals to put the game out of reach. Freshman Kat Klass tallied her third goal of the match, while juniors Sophia Monaghan and Dani Jackovich closed it out.
Junior goalkeeper Julia Hermann notched 11 saves, her first career double-digit performance.
In the evening, Stanford faced off against the San Jose State Spartans, dominating the match by a final score of 17-8. Four Cardinal recorded hat tricks in the match, and the team outscored the Spartans 5-0 in the fourth quarter.
After jumping to a 3-0 lead in the first, Stanford continued its strong play to establish an 11-4 lead at the half. San Jose State attempted to rally in the third, narrowing the score to 12-8, but the Cardinal finished strong, racking up five goals in the fourth quarter to finish out the match.
Sophomore Shannon Cleary, junior Jamie Neushul, senior Anna Yelizarova and Klass registered hat tricks, and Hermann notched a career-high 17 saves.
On Saturday, the Cardinal once again got off to a strong start, defeating LMU 17-6. Freshman Madison Berggren, Neushel and Yelizarova recorded hat tricks in the matchup.
The Cardinal finished the first quarter with a 4-2 lead, and they outscored the Lions 6-1 in the second quarter. In the third quarter, Stanford once again put up six goals in the third, with two apiece from Neushul and Yelizarova. Each team put up one more score in the fourth for a final score of Stanford 17 to LMU 6.
The weekend’s one setback came in the form of a 5-2 loss to Bay Area rival California. Although Stanford jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead with a goal from Jackovich, the team was shut out for the next two quarters. The Golden Bears then scored four unanswered points across the next three quarters. While Klass was able to cut Cal’s lead to two points with a score in the fourth, the Golden Bears answered with a goal of their own, sealing the deal.
The loss broke Stanford’s 32-game win streak in the Avery Aquatic Center.
Stanford will take on No. 11 UC Davis and Brown at the Davis Shootout on Sunday, Feb. 21, at 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m., respectively.
Contact Olivia Hummer at ohummer ‘at’ stanford.edu.