Stanford Athletics

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WHAT'S AHEAD

No. 2 Stanford is in Irvine, Calif. this weekend at the Barbara Kalbus Invitational. The Cardinal opens with No. 21 CSUN on Friday, Feb. 22 at 11:15 a.m. Depending on results, Stanford would play either No. 7 UC Irvine or No. 10 Pacific on Saturday, Feb. 23 at 10:30 a.m. The Cardinal will also play a second game later in the day on Saturday before wrapping up the tournament on Sunday with opponents to be determined depending on how the bracket shakes out. All of the 16 teams in attendance are ranked in the CWPA Women's Varsity Top 25.

BARBARA KALBUS INVITATIONAL HISTORY

Now in its 13th year, Stanford is 40-8 all-time at the Barbara Kalbus Invitational and was tournament champion in 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2018. The Cardinal beat No. 19 Long Beach State (15-3), No. 8 Pacific (13-6), No. 4 UCLA (10-3) and No. 3 USC (9-3) in last year's event to roll to its first tournament title in seven seasons. Formerly the UC Irvine Invitational, the tournament was renamed in 2017 to honor water polo icon Dr. Barbara Kalbus, a 1993 inductee into the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame.

MPSF PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Makenzie Fischer scored six goals for the fourth time in five games and Stanford rolled to a 17-6 win at No. 11 UC Davis in its only game last week. Fischer was named MPSF/Kap7 Player of the Week for her efforts and has won the award in each of Stanford's three weeks of action this season.

OFFENSE IS ROLLING

Stanford has scored a program-record 147 goals through its first seven games, an average of 21.00 per game and outscored its opponents 147-44.

FANTASTIC FISCHER

Makenzie is averaging 5.00 goals per game, has had multi-score efforts in each one of Stanford's seven games and has been responsible for 24 percent of the Cardinal's scoring offense (35 of 147 goals) this season. She's a full goal per game better than the No. 2 player in the MPSF (Emma Wright – Cal; 4.00) and more than two goals per game better than No. 3 (Olga Descalzi Portell – San Jose State; 2.67).

SEEING THE STATS

Stanford tops the MPSF in goals per game (21.00), ahead of USC (16.15), and is second in goals allowed per game (6.29) trailing the Trojans (2.69). Individually, Fischer leads the league in goals per game (5.00) and Madison Stamen is fifth (2.57). Sarah Klass is eighth (2.29), Aria Fischer is 10th (2.14), Kat Klass is 13th (1.86) and Hannah Shabb is 21st (1.43). Emalia Eichelberger's 6.40 goals against average is tied for third in the conference and her 9.60 saves per game are third. Thea Walsh is sixth in goals against average (7.14) and fifth in saves per game (8.00).

WHAT'S IN STORE IN 2019

Denied 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 ALL

Avery 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.