Feb. 28, 2008

STANFORD, Calif. - The No. 2 Stanford women's water polo team begins a stretch of four consecutive MPSF contests this weekend, hosting a pair of ranked opponents at Avery Aquatic Center. The Cardinal's weekend opens up Saturday at 1 p.m. against No. 7 San Diego State, then concludes Sunday at 1 p.m. opposite No. 10 Arizona State.

Stanford (9-2, 1-0 MPSF) is coming off a weekend which saw it come within a sudden-death goal of defeating No. 1 UCLA and capturing the Irvine Tournament. The Cardinal, behind 10 goals over the tournament's four games from Jacquelyn Gauthier and 33 total saves from goalkeeper Amber Oland, handily defeated UC San Diego and San Jose State before avenging a previous loss this year to USC by defeating the Women of Troy, 7-6 in overtime, as Koree Blyleven scored the game-winner to send Stanford into the title game.

Lauren Silver scored seven goals over the weekend for the Cardinal, upping her team-leading tally to 26 goals on the year. Silver's 26 goals in 11 games also puts her fourth in the MPSF with a 2.36 goals per game average. Gauthier, who posted hat tricks in the wins over UCSD and San Jose State, brought her season total to 22 goals and is tied for tenth in the MPSF with 2.00 goals per game.

Oland, meanwhile, sits third in the conference with her totals of 9.20 saves per game (92 in 10 games), and her 4.90 goals-against average (49 goals allowed).

San Diego State (13-1, 0-0 MPSF) enters Saturday's contest on a three-game winning streak and following a ninth-place finish at the Irvine Tournament. The Aztecs had their season-opening 10-game winning streak snapped in the tournament's opening contest by UC Davis, but bounced back to defeat Michigan, UC Irvine, and Arizona State to finish the weekend. Junior Anna Gonzales (31 goals) is third in the MPSF with 2.38 goals per game, while another junior, Jenna Schuster, is sixth in the conference with a 2.15 goals per game average.

The Sun Devils, who finished 10th at the Irvine Tournament last weekend, are led by junior Addison McGrath's 40 goals and 2.35 goals per game, fifth in the MPSF. Goalkeeper Caylinn Wallace is also second in the conference with an average of 9.35 saves per game.