Big Weekend On Tap As Cardinal Hosts Stanford Invitational
The No. 2 Stanford women's water polo team (1-0, 0-0 MPSF) heads into one of the biggest weekends of the season as it opens things up by hosting No. 4 Hawai'i (4-0, 0-0 MPSF) Friday at 4:30 p.m. in the teams' MPSF opener, then welcoming a group of the nation's top teams to Avery Aquatic Center for the 2009 Stanford Invitational.

About The Opposition
Hawai'i (4-0) comes to the mainland for the second straight weekend to play the Cardinal and then take part in the Stanford Invitational. Last weekend, the Rainbow Wahine swept all four of its contests at the NorCal Open, held at Santa Clara's Sullivan Aquatic Center. The Rainbow Wahine outscored its opponents by a 62-16 margin over the weekend, as well.

Stanford's opponents during the pool play portion of this weekend's tournament include: No. 18 Indiana (1-3), No. 1 USC (0-0) and No. 7 Arizona State (6-0). The Cardinal will then face a team from Group A Sunday afternoon, depending on its record in Group B play.

In The National Rankings
Following last Thursday's 17-3 victory at Santa Clara, the Cardinal remained in the No. 2 spot, just one point behind top-ranked USC in the voting.

Opening The Season Strong
Stanford opened the 2009 season in strong fashion, thumping Santa Clara, 17-3, in the season opener last Thursday at SCU. Alex Koran led the Cardinal scorers with four goals while junior Kelly Eaton posted a hat trick of her own with three goals. Nine different Stanford players scored in the contest, while five of the scorers tallied at least a pair of goals.

Goalkeepers Haven't Missed A Beat
Besides the strong scoring performance last Thursday, the Cardinal also received a solid effort from its defense in the the 17-3 win over Santa Clara. Sophomore goalies Amber Oland and Kim Hall each played two periods in the contest, with Oland making five saves and not allowing a score, and Hall making three saves in her time in the cage.

Two For The Senior
After scoring a career-high 38 goals as a junior last season, Kira Hillman got her senior year off to a fine start in last Thursday's win at Santa Clara by racking up a pair of goals. The two goals signal a strong start to Hillman's final season for the Cardinal as well as a good start towards eclipsing her career-best total from last year.

Lightning-Quick Efficiency
The Cardinal wasted no time making its mark in Thursday's 17-3 win at Santa Clara, scoring its first four goals within the opening 1:40. Kelly Eaton got the scoring started just six seconds into the game, and scored two of Stanford's first three goals by the time 1:16 had elapsed off the game clock. Stanford ended up tallying six goals in the opening period.

The Cardinal Go Green For The Opener
Stanford's 17-3 victory at Santa Clara last Thursday was only part of the story in the team's itinerary. The Cardinal went green in its 17-mile trip to Santa Clara by taking the Marguerite shuttle to the Palo Alto Caltrain station, where the team caught the 4:03 train that arrived in Santa Clara at 4:29 p.m. After arriving at the Santa Clara station, the team made the short walk across the street to SCU. Following the game, the team hustled to the station and just caught the 7:35 train, which brought the team back to Palo Alto at 8:01 p.m.