[M T]

This weekend is the first big test of #1 Stanford WWP.

The Barbara Kalbus invitational is underway at UC-Irvine.  The top 4 teams won their opening games on Friday.  Round 2 is on Saturday.
The only coverage is live stats.

#1 Stanford beat #11 UCI 15-6.  Saturday's 1:30 game pits #4 Cal vs Stanford.   #2 UCLA plays #3 USC at 4:30.
Saturday's losers play Sunday at noon while the winners play at 1:30PM.

[M T]

This weekend is the first big test of #1 Stanford WWP.

The Barbara Kalbus invitational is underway at UC-Irvine.  The top 4 teams won their opening games on Friday.  Round 2 is on Saturday.
The only coverage is live stats.

#1 Stanford beat #11 UCI 15-6.  Saturday's 1:30 game pits #4 Cal vs Stanford.   #2 UCLA plays #3 USC at 4:30.
Saturday's losers play Sunday at noon while the winners play at 1:30PM.

[M T]

With each team scoring a penalty shot, Stanford led Cal 4-3 after 1 quarter.  Stats were pretty even.

But Stanford dominated the 2nd quarter and leads 9-4 at the half.  Stanford is 3 of 3 on power plays; Cal is 2 of 4.  The Cal coach got a yellow-red card.

Stanford extended its lead in the 3rd quarter, 12-5.

Stanford wins 14-7. The refs were making lots of calls against Stanford in the first half of Q4. Then the Stanford coach objected, getting a yellow card. Then, after the game was clearly over, there were a number of calls against Cal. For the game, Stanford was 4 of 6 on power plays, 0.452 on shooting, 1 of 1 on penalty shots. Cal was 2 of 11 on power plays, 0.226 on shooting, 2 of 3 on penalty shots.

Sienna Green and Jenna Flynn each scored 4 goals. 7 players scored goals.

At 1:30PM on Sunday, Stanford will play UCLA, the 10-9 winner of Saturday's USC-UCLA match.

[M T]

With each team scoring a penalty shot, Stanford led Cal 4-3 after 1 quarter.  Stats were pretty even.

But Stanford dominated the 2nd quarter and leads 9-4 at the half.  Stanford is 3 of 3 on power plays; Cal is 2 of 4.  The Cal coach got a yellow-red card.

Stanford extended its lead in the 3rd quarter, 12-5.

Stanford wins 14-7. The refs were making lots of calls against Stanford in the first half of Q4. Then the Stanford coach objected, getting a yellow card. Then, after the game was clearly over, there were a number of calls against Cal. For the game, Stanford was 4 of 6 on power plays, 0.452 on shooting, 1 of 1 on penalty shots. Cal was 2 of 11 on power plays, 0.226 on shooting, 2 of 3 on penalty shots.

Sienna Green and Jenna Flynn each scored 4 goals. 7 players scored goals.

At 1:30PM on Sunday, Stanford will play UCLA, the 10-9 winner of Saturday's USC-UCLA match.

[M T]

(I was at WBB)
At the end of 3 quarters, Stanford leads 8-6.
1 yellow card to each team.
Stanford only 1 of 6 power plays.  UCLA has had 11 power plays, scoring on 3.
UCLA missed its one penalty shot.  Stanford hit its one penalty shot.
https://www.thefosh.net/live/19681

In the 4th, UCLA gets 1 goal on 4 power plays while Stanford gets no goals on 2 power plays.
Stanford wins 8-7..

[M T]

(I was at WBB)
At the end of 3 quarters, Stanford leads 8-6.
1 yellow card to each team.
Stanford only 1 of 6 power plays.  UCLA has had 11 power plays, scoring on 3.
UCLA missed its one penalty shot.  Stanford hit its one penalty shot.
https://www.thefosh.net/live/19681

In the 4th, UCLA gets 1 goal on 4 power plays while Stanford gets no goals on 2 power plays.
Stanford wins 8-7..

[cardcrimson]

(I was at WBB)
At the end of 3 quarters, Stanford leads 8-6.
1 yellow card to each team.
Stanford only 1 of 6 power plays.  UCLA has had 11 power plays, scoring on 3.
UCLA missed its one penalty shot.  Stanford hit its one penalty shot.
https://www.thefosh.net/live/19681

In the 4th, UCLA gets 1 goal on 4 power plays while Stanford gets no goals on 2 power plays.
Stanford wins 8-7..

Great stuff! thanks for the reporting! Any thoughts on the game? Seemed to be a lot tighter, after the blowouts against Cal and Irvine. . . .Lauren Steele looked to have played great in net for the Bruins. She's tough.

[cardcrimson]

(I was at WBB)
At the end of 3 quarters, Stanford leads 8-6.
1 yellow card to each team.
Stanford only 1 of 6 power plays.  UCLA has had 11 power plays, scoring on 3.
UCLA missed its one penalty shot.  Stanford hit its one penalty shot.
https://www.thefosh.net/live/19681

In the 4th, UCLA gets 1 goal on 4 power plays while Stanford gets no goals on 2 power plays.
Stanford wins 8-7..

Great stuff! thanks for the reporting! Any thoughts on the game? Seemed to be a lot tighter, after the blowouts against Cal and Irvine. . . .Lauren Steele looked to have played great in net for the Bruins. She's tough.

[M T]

Great stuff! thanks for the reporting! Any thoughts on the game? Seemed to be a lot tighter, after the blowouts against Cal and Irvine. . . .Lauren Steele looked to have played great in net for the Bruins. She's tough.

I am hopeful that Stanford WWP will be one of Stanford's national championship teams this year.

I only followed the FOSH play by play (live) so I can't add too much.
Lauren Steele, the UCLA goalie, is listed with 13 saves versus 8 goals (1 was a penalty shot, 1 was a power play).
Christine Carpenter, the Stanford goalie, is listed with 8 saves versus 7 goals (0 were penalty shots (1 stopped (i.e., not missed)), 4 were on power plays).
UCLA had way more power plays. If you discount power play goals, the Stanford goalie looks quite good.

I actually expected Stanford to beat UCLA by a bigger margin. Stanford was up 3 at the half and held on. UCLA squeaked by USC by a single goal (10-9), while USC wins haven't been decisive.

[M T]

Great stuff! thanks for the reporting! Any thoughts on the game? Seemed to be a lot tighter, after the blowouts against Cal and Irvine. . . .Lauren Steele looked to have played great in net for the Bruins. She's tough.

I am hopeful that Stanford WWP will be one of Stanford's national championship teams this year.

I only followed the FOSH play by play (live) so I can't add too much.
Lauren Steele, the UCLA goalie, is listed with 13 saves versus 8 goals (1 was a penalty shot, 1 was a power play).
Christine Carpenter, the Stanford goalie, is listed with 8 saves versus 7 goals (0 were penalty shots (1 stopped (i.e., not missed)), 4 were on power plays).
UCLA had way more power plays. If you discount power play goals, the Stanford goalie looks quite good.

I actually expected Stanford to beat UCLA by a bigger margin. Stanford was up 3 at the half and held on. UCLA squeaked by USC by a single goal (10-9), while USC wins haven't been decisive.

[M T]

I went to today's WWP at Avery against #5 ASU.   I expected an easy win, but it was more interesting than that.

When I arrived at the end of the first quarter, Stanford was up 5-2.  About what I'd expect.  Stanford scored early in the second quarter to make it 6-2. 

But then, ASU reeled off 5 straight goals to make it 6-7 in favor of ASU.  Not what I'd expect.  Stanford did score another goal before the half to tie it at 7-7.

I had to stop and ask myself what was going on.  During that ASU run, they seemed to have Stanford on the ropes.  It seemed that ASU was scoring each time down the pool and I felt Stanford was disorganized, especially on defense.  ASU has some large players in the hole (#2 Grad from AUS, #9 Sr. from NZ).  Those two only scored 1 goal each.

But the third quarter started and Stanford again was playing like it was the dominant team, winning the quarter 6-1.  The 4th quarter was only 3-3, with one Stanford goal in the last minute against an empty goal.

Final score 16-11. (Stanford teams have had a bit of a rough day so I should be happy with a win.)

In terms of fouls, the only Stanford player with two or more majors, was Ella Woodhead who fouled out with 3.  ASU had 5 players with 2 fouls.

For Stanford,  Juliette Dhalluin scored 6 goals while Jenna Flynn scored 4 and Serena Browne scored 2. 4 other players scored.

FYI, ASU's head coach played for the Hungarian national team.  Her team has 15 foreign players from 10 countries (plus 8 from the US).

---

While I've got you, I thought I'd give a shout-out to the Stanford Artistic Swimming team for winning its conference championship last weekend. Western Regionals (and Senior Day) will be next weekend at Avery, with the U.S. Collegiate National Championships also at Avery a month later.

[M T]

I went to today's WWP at Avery against #5 ASU.   I expected an easy win, but it was more interesting than that.

When I arrived at the end of the first quarter, Stanford was up 5-2.  About what I'd expect.  Stanford scored early in the second quarter to make it 6-2. 

But then, ASU reeled off 5 straight goals to make it 6-7 in favor of ASU.  Not what I'd expect.  Stanford did score another goal before the half to tie it at 7-7.

I had to stop and ask myself what was going on.  During that ASU run, they seemed to have Stanford on the ropes.  It seemed that ASU was scoring each time down the pool and I felt Stanford was disorganized, especially on defense.  ASU has some large players in the hole (#2 Grad from AUS, #9 Sr. from NZ).  Those two only scored 1 goal each.

But the third quarter started and Stanford again was playing like it was the dominant team, winning the quarter 6-1.  The 4th quarter was only 3-3, with one Stanford goal in the last minute against an empty goal.

Final score 16-11. (Stanford teams have had a bit of a rough day so I should be happy with a win.)

In terms of fouls, the only Stanford player with two or more majors, was Ella Woodhead who fouled out with 3.  ASU had 5 players with 2 fouls.

For Stanford,  Juliette Dhalluin scored 6 goals while Jenna Flynn scored 4 and Serena Browne scored 2. 4 other players scored.

FYI, ASU's head coach played for the Hungarian national team.  Her team has 15 foreign players from 10 countries (plus 8 from the US).

---

While I've got you, I thought I'd give a shout-out to the Stanford Artistic Swimming team for winning its conference championship last weekend. Western Regionals (and Senior Day) will be next weekend at Avery, with the U.S. Collegiate National Championships also at Avery a month later.

[M T]

#1 Stanford WWP again beats UCLA by 1 goal, 10-9 at UCLA today. 
It was a close game throughout. Stanford was up by 1 at the end of the first quarter. It was tied at the end of the half and Q3. 
UCLA had a chance to tie with a penalty shot with under two minutes to go. But the Stanford goalie blocked it. UCLA then got a power play, but the shot was again grabbed by the goalie.

[M T]

#1 Stanford WWP again beats UCLA by 1 goal, 10-9 at UCLA today. 
It was a close game throughout. Stanford was up by 1 at the end of the first quarter. It was tied at the end of the half and Q3. 
UCLA had a chance to tie with a penalty shot with under two minutes to go. But the Stanford goalie blocked it. UCLA then got a power play, but the shot was again grabbed by the goalie.

[Nobadeer]

LSJU easily defeated Wagner 18-6 in the national quarterfinal at UCSD. Everyone played and just about everyone either scored or assisted. Other than the goalie of course, who was excellent.

Wagner's roster was over half international.

Tomorrow afternoon's semi final is vs. Cal. In the other semi final, it's . . . Ucla vs. USC. Like the Talking Heads sang, "Same as it Ever Was" 

Let's go Card!

[Nobadeer]

LSJU easily defeated Wagner 18-6 in the national quarterfinal at UCSD. Everyone played and just about everyone either scored or assisted. Other than the goalie of course, who was excellent.

Wagner's roster was over half international.

Tomorrow afternoon's semi final is vs. Cal. In the other semi final, it's . . . Ucla vs. USC. Like the Talking Heads sang, "Same as it Ever Was" 

Let's go Card!

[M T]

The Stanford versus Cal water polo NCAA semi-final match will be at 4 PM PDT.

Watch here
https://www.ncaa.com/liveschedule/2026/04/25

[M T]

The Stanford versus Cal water polo NCAA semi-final match will be at 4 PM PDT.

Watch here
https://www.ncaa.com/liveschedule/2026/04/25

[Nurdyguy]

The Stanford versus Cal water polo NCAA semi-final match will be at 4 PM PDT.

Watch here
https://www.ncaa.com/liveschedule/2026/04/25

Thanks for the link!  I had no idea they'd ever televise Stanford Water Polo, so this will be my first game I get to watch this year.

[Nurdyguy]

The Stanford versus Cal water polo NCAA semi-final match will be at 4 PM PDT.

Watch here
https://www.ncaa.com/liveschedule/2026/04/25

Thanks for the link!  I had no idea they'd ever televise Stanford Water Polo, so this will be my first game I get to watch this year.

[Nurdyguy]

The Stanford versus Cal water polo NCAA semi-final match will be at 4 PM PDT.

Watch here
https://www.ncaa.com/liveschedule/2026/04/25

Holy crap!  Is Stanford going to wet the bed against KAL?!?!?  Down 12-8 with 1:43 left in the 3rd.  I feel like a jinx since this is my first time watching them this year.  Dammit!

[Nurdyguy]

The Stanford versus Cal water polo NCAA semi-final match will be at 4 PM PDT.

Watch here
https://www.ncaa.com/liveschedule/2026/04/25

Holy crap!  Is Stanford going to wet the bed against KAL?!?!?  Down 12-8 with 1:43 left in the 3rd.  I feel like a jinx since this is my first time watching them this year.  Dammit!

[82lsju]

trailing 13 to 11 with 1:44 to go in the 4th period

we lose 13-11

[82lsju]

trailing 13 to 11 with 1:44 to go in the 4th period

we lose 13-11

[Nurdyguy]

The Stanford versus Cal water polo NCAA semi-final match will be at 4 PM PDT.

Watch here
https://www.ncaa.com/liveschedule/2026/04/25

Holy crap!  Is Stanford going to wet the bed against KAL?!?!?  Down 12-8 with 1:43 left in the 3rd.  I feel like a jinx since this is my first time watching them this year.  Dammit!

The bed is  wet...

[Nurdyguy]

The Stanford versus Cal water polo NCAA semi-final match will be at 4 PM PDT.

Watch here
https://www.ncaa.com/liveschedule/2026/04/25

Holy crap!  Is Stanford going to wet the bed against KAL?!?!?  Down 12-8 with 1:43 left in the 3rd.  I feel like a jinx since this is my first time watching them this year.  Dammit!

The bed is  wet...

[Canalejas]

Oof. 

What are the chances that Cal actually wins their first WWP title tomorrow?

[Canalejas]

Oof. 

What are the chances that Cal actually wins their first WWP title tomorrow?

[Nobadeer]

Did the reffing look as biased on tv as it did at the pool? Cal scored 5 straight goals in the third period within a few minutes, and at least 3 of those goals were 6-on-5. Those few minutes decided the game. 

LSJU had 14 exclusion fouls to only 9 for Cal. Sure looked like the same type and degree of contact/physicality on both sides.

But LSJU had many errant shots, 23 total, which might be a season high. Not sure LSJU attempted any skip shots today. 

Cal could win tomorrow. It seems like almost every M WP and W WP final 4 game in the past many years/decades has been decided by a goal or two.

Only 2 seniors graduate for LSJU. Next year's NCAA tournament will be at Avery.

[Nobadeer]

Did the reffing look as biased on tv as it did at the pool? Cal scored 5 straight goals in the third period within a few minutes, and at least 3 of those goals were 6-on-5. Those few minutes decided the game. 

LSJU had 14 exclusion fouls to only 9 for Cal. Sure looked like the same type and degree of contact/physicality on both sides.

But LSJU had many errant shots, 23 total, which might be a season high. Not sure LSJU attempted any skip shots today. 

Cal could win tomorrow. It seems like almost every M WP and W WP final 4 game in the past many years/decades has been decided by a goal or two.

Only 2 seniors graduate for LSJU. Next year's NCAA tournament will be at Avery.

[M T]

This loss emphasizes what an impressive streak is the 50-year NC run. Anything can happen in a game.  Stanford had beaten Cal twice.  Cal had lost 7 matches; Stanford had lost only 1.

I haven't been able to watch the full game (available here) but I saw this ejection live. (It is at 1:07:19 in the replay)
Q4, 1:44 left.  Cal (white caps) has the ball.  Stanford is down by 2 goals.  Stanford had scored a quick goal just moments before and needed 2 more quickly.

If you've ever watched a WWP match, you've seen players lift their body out of the water to show the opponent has hold of their swimsuit.  That's what Jenna Flynn is doing here.  You see the arm of the opponent reaching out to Flynn.   You can see that Flynn's suit is pulled slightly (by the untanned skin).  If the official decides that a suit was pulled, the (Cal)      player is ejected and Stanford would get the ball.

The official (neither official is shown in the video so I can't see any signal) apparently makes a call of simulation (flopping) against Flynn.  She is ejected and the team is given a yellow card.

Simulation means an action taken by a player with
the apparent intent of causing a referee to award a foul incorrectly against an
opposing player. Upon the first act of simulation committed by a player of
each team, the referee will issue a simulation yellow card to that player’s entire
team.

Water polo may be the hardest sport to referee.

[M T]

This loss emphasizes what an impressive streak is the 50-year NC run. Anything can happen in a game.  Stanford had beaten Cal twice.  Cal had lost 7 matches; Stanford had lost only 1.

I haven't been able to watch the full game (available here) but I saw this ejection live. (It is at 1:07:19 in the replay)
Q4, 1:44 left.  Cal (white caps) has the ball.  Stanford is down by 2 goals.  Stanford had scored a quick goal just moments before and needed 2 more quickly.

If you've ever watched a WWP match, you've seen players lift their body out of the water to show the opponent has hold of their swimsuit.  That's what Jenna Flynn is doing here.  You see the arm of the opponent reaching out to Flynn.   You can see that Flynn's suit is pulled slightly (by the untanned skin).  If the official decides that a suit was pulled, the (Cal)      player is ejected and Stanford would get the ball.

The official (neither official is shown in the video so I can't see any signal) apparently makes a call of simulation (flopping) against Flynn.  She is ejected and the team is given a yellow card.

Simulation means an action taken by a player with
the apparent intent of causing a referee to award a foul incorrectly against an
opposing player. Upon the first act of simulation committed by a player of
each team, the referee will issue a simulation yellow card to that player’s entire
team.

Water polo may be the hardest sport to referee.

[fullmetal]

Nah, that makes water polo the *easiest* sport to referee, esp if these refs are national championship-quality.  Foul?  Simulation?  Pick one, you can't go wrong!  /s

fk kal...

[fullmetal]

Nah, that makes water polo the *easiest* sport to referee, esp if these refs are national championship-quality.  Foul?  Simulation?  Pick one, you can't go wrong!  /s

fk kal...

[cardcrimson]

Wagner's roster was over half international.

And one from Acalanes in Lafayette. . . . .

---

But LSJU had many errant shots, 23 total, which might be a season high. Not sure LSJU attempted any skip shots today. 

Missed the game, but took a look at the stats. Stanford took 35 shots, way more than Cal. Cal's goalie (from Danville and SRVHS before her family moved to Georgia) only was credited with two saves. TWO! Our shooting must have been incredibly cold, lots of opportunities. . . .

[cardcrimson]

Wagner's roster was over half international.

And one from Acalanes in Lafayette. . . . .

---

But LSJU had many errant shots, 23 total, which might be a season high. Not sure LSJU attempted any skip shots today. 

Missed the game, but took a look at the stats. Stanford took 35 shots, way more than Cal. Cal's goalie (from Danville and SRVHS before her family moved to Georgia) only was credited with two saves. TWO! Our shooting must have been incredibly cold, lots of opportunities. . . .

[Canalejas]

Well, the Bears blew their chance.

[Canalejas]

Well, the Bears blew their chance.

[PVTree]

I watched from the middle of the third period on. It was the condoms by one, stretching the lead to two, and the weenies scoring to make it a one goal lead again. That's how it ended, condoms by one.

Condoms had a lot of exclusive fouls in their favor but were unable to take advantage of them and failed to tie the game. 
.
Although the announcers were praising the 5'7" (apparently short for a water polo) goalie, I thought most of the weenie shots were right to her or off the mark.

[PVTree]

I watched from the middle of the third period on. It was the condoms by one, stretching the lead to two, and the weenies scoring to make it a one goal lead again. That's how it ended, condoms by one.

Condoms had a lot of exclusive fouls in their favor but were unable to take advantage of them and failed to tie the game. 
.
Although the announcers were praising the 5'7" (apparently short for a water polo) goalie, I thought most of the weenie shots were right to her or off the mark.