Stanford Women's Water Polo Reigns

From Stanford News Service:

Stanford felt right at home, allowing the national championship to stay on The Farm.

Backed by a raucous crowd at Avery Aquatic Center, Stanford became the first host school to win an NCAA championship while defending its title with a 7-6 victory over UCLA on Sunday evening.

Kiley Neushul converted a penalty shot for the game-winner with 11 seconds remaining, as Stanford (25-2) captured its fourth NCAA crown in five years and fifth in school history. The NCAA title is also the 106th won by a Stanford team and extends the school’s national-best streak of years with at least one NCAA championship to 39, dating back to 1976-77.

“I’m incredibly proud of this team and the effort they put in,” Stanford head coach John Tanner said. “They have been sensational throughout the year to put themselves in this position and they have responded every time. The fourth quarter was a crazy adventure and it felt like each time we would try to establish something in the front court we’d get an offensive foul and have to really work our way through the defense. We were 5-on-6 a lot and just holding even took a huge amount of energy. Today showed tons of perseverance and a lot of character.”

The frantic final seconds began with a Gabby Stone save on a skip shot from Alys Williams with 40 seconds to go and the game tied, 6-6. UCLA’s Emily Donohoe was whistled for an exclusion on the way down and the Cardinal called timeout with 34 ticks left in the game and 32 on the shot clock to set up its final play.

Stanford cycled it around the perimeter, probing the defense until Jordan Raney up top passed to Maggie Steffens on her left with 14 seconds remaining. Steffens fired a shot low which was saved by the Bruins’ Sami Hill. UCLA quickly attempted to stop the action and use a timeout, but not before Hill was pressured by the Cardinal’s Ashley Grossman and forced to dump the ball into open water on her right.

Without possession of the ball, the Bruins were whistled for an illegal timeout and a five-meter penalty was awarded to Stanford. UCLA’s head coach Brandon Brooks pleaded his case with the officials, who conferred and confirmed the call. That’s when Neushul calmly swam to the center of the pool with an NCAA title in the balance and beat Hill with a skip to the keeper’s left.

The score capped a memorable finale for Stanford’s senior class. Neushul scored a season-high five goals, while fellow senior Ashley Grossman added a pair. Over the past four season, Neushul, Grossman and senior goalkeeper Emily Dorst went 105-8 and won three national championships.

“You get kind of hot during a game and you look at your teammates, they look at you and are like, ‘You got it, you got it,’” Neushul said when asked if there was any debate as to who would take the penalty. “I was able to score with the support of my teammates honestly. They recognized I had a hot hand today and I rode on that at the end.”