CSUN Falls to #1 Stanford at Barbara Kalbus Invite

NORTHRIDGE, CA---

No. 22 CSUN Water Polo (9-10) dropped its opener at the Barbara Kalbus Invitational to No. 1 Stanford, 16-5, on Friday morning in Irvine, CA. Katelyn Fairchild netted two goals in the match while Madeleine Sanchez, Lindsey Garcia and McKenzie Pollei also hit the back of the net against the Cardinal. Both Niki Van Vugt and Nathalie Brewster each saw 16 minutes of action apiece with the tandem racking up a combined 12 saves.

Facing their fifth Top 10 team already this season, the Matadors took on a Stanford team that was a perfect 8-0. Although coming up short, CSUN scored the third-most goals against Stanford this season and the most by a team ranked outside the Top 20.

In the first quarter, Stanford jumped out to the early lead after MaKenzie Fischer hit the net on a power play. The scored remained 1-0 until the 2:54 mark of the period as Dani Jackovich scored to push the lead to two. The Matadors were unable to crack the scoring column in the period, giving the Cardinal an opportunity increase their advantage. Goals from Maggie Steffens and Jordan Raney capped off the quarter, making it 4-0 after eight minutes.

Held scoreless for nearly 11 minutes, CSUN finally ended the string with a goal from Fairchild at the 5:47 mark of the second quarter. Stanford quickly returned the favor with a pair of goals from Kat Klass that pushed the lead to five. Sanchez connected off a penalty shot with 3:15 left to play but the Cardinal scored once again near intermission to go ahead 7-2.

Showing fight, the Matadors kept on plugging away in the second half as Pollei and Fairchild each struck the net in the third quarter. CSUN trailed 9-4 with 3:36 left in the third but Stanford scored twice more to stretch its advantage to 11-4.

The Cardinal added five more goals including two from Steffens in the fourth period to put the game out of reach. Garcia hit the final CSUN goal at the 1:00 mark of the fourth.

In the cage, Van Vugt played the first half and tallied seven saves before giving way to Brewster after intermission. Brewster collected five saves in two quarters of action.

Along with her goal, Sanchez also picked up three of the Matadors' eight steals on the day.

The Matadors will take on No. 9 UC Santa Barbara to open up day two of the Barbara Kalbus Invitational on Saturday at 8 a.m. The winner of the match will take on the winner of San Jose State and Long Beach State at 2:45 p.m. while the losers of the matches will meet at 1:30 p.m.

CSUN - 0-2-2-1 = 5
Stanford - 4-3-4-5 = 16

CSUN scorers: Fairchild 2 (34), Sanchez (39), Pollei (7), Garcia (5)
Stanford scorers: Steffens 3, Fischer 2, Jackovich 2, Klass 2, Wiley 2, Dudley, Neushul, Raney

CSUN saves: Van Vugt 7 (124), Brewster 5 (49)
Stanford saves: Hermann 4, Stone 2

CSUN Falls to #1 Stanford at Barbara Kalbus Invite

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Players Mentioned

Nathalie Brewster

Katelyn Fairchild

Lindsey Garcia

McKenzie Pollei

Madeleine Sanchez

Niki Van Vugt