INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Makenzie Fischer keyed a decisive second-quarter surge as part of a four-goal outing and No. 2 Stanford beat No. 8 Pacific 13-6 in an NCAA quarterfinal on Friday evening.
Stanford advances to tomorrow's second semifinal at 2 p.m. PT/5 p.m. ET against No. 3 USC, which beat No. 6 Michigan 12-6 in the final game of the day.
Tied 3-3 early in the second period after a lob from Pacific's Kyra Christmas found the back of the cage, the Cardinal scored four unanswered to take control. Fischer poured in three during the surge and Stanford opened things up with counterattack score after counterattack score, striking before the Tigers were able to set up their defense.
Fischer took a pass from Jamie Neushul, raced down the pool and scored to ignite the run at 7:11. Neushul again set up a score when she nabbed a steal and fed Madison Berggren for a goal at 5:41. Maggie Steffens hit a streaking Fischer for another goal on the Cardinal's next possession (5:13) and Fischer capped the strong stretch with her third of the quarter at 3:38.
Mariana Duarte scored in the 6-on-5 for Pacific to halt the onslaught, but at 2:17 Steffens snagged one of her game-high six steals, brought the ball down the pool and took care of things herself for Stanford's eighth goal of the game. The Cardinal led 8-5 at the half.
Pacific scored five first-half goals, but managed just one in the second on a skip from Rachel Krieger at 4:08 in the third.
Stanford extended its lead with third-quarter scores from Fischer, Steffens and Dani Jackovich. Kat Klass hit Fischer for a score at 7:20 and at 5:52 Fischer nearly had her fifth when she floated a ball to the back post, but it didn't find the frame and Steffens pushed it across for her third of the game. Late in the period, the Cardinal cycled the ball around and Dani Jackovich ended up with it in front of the cage for an easy score (1:18).
Gabby Stone played the first three quarters in the cage and made five saves. Julia Hermann came on in the fourth and stopped a pair.
The win was the 500th in the Stanford career of Dunlevie Family Director of Women's Water Polo John Tanner. Tanner now has 500 victories against just 73 losses on The Farm, a winning percentage of .873.
No. 2 Stanford vs. No. 8 Pacific
May 12, 2017 • Indianapolis, Ind.
UOP 2 – 3 – 1 – 0 = 6
STAN 3 – 5 – 3 – 2 = 13
Stanford Goals: Makenzie Fischer 4, Maggie Steffens 3, Madison Berggren 2, Shannon Cleary, Dani Jackovich, Kat Klass, Jamie Neushul
Stanford Saves: Gabby Stone 5, Julia Hermann 2
UOP Goals: Mariana Duarte 4, Kyra Christmas, Rachel Krieger
UOP Saves: Alexis Hollinrake 6, Samantha Pfaff 1
