Last Updated 6:28 PM, May 08, 2022
NCAA.com

Stanford beats Southern California to win its eighth women's water polo national championship

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Stanford wins 2022 NCAA women's water polo national championship
3:31
9:31 pm, May 8, 2022

Stanford wins the national championship

For the eighth time in school history, Stanford won the National Collegiate Women's Water Polo Championship as the Cardinal defeated Southern California 10-7 on Sunday after scoring the final three goals of the match. The Trojans led for much of the match, scoring the first goal in the opening minute of the match on a power play, before extending its advantage to 3-1. Southern California led 4-3 through two periods before Stanford came roaring back.

Stanford's Makenzie Fischer scored a match-high four goals, while Ryann Neushul added three and Aria Fischer had three assists.

The match was tied 7-7 late in the fourth period before Jewel Roemer scored her first goal of the match with 2:54 to put Stanford ahead for good, with Makenzie Fischer and Neushul adding a pair of late goals to get the Cardinal to the final margin.

Stanford finished the season with a 25-2 record, with one of its two losses coming against Southern California. However, Stanford beat Southern California in three of the schools' four meetings, including the most important one on Sunday. The 2022 final was the seventh time the two schools met in the national championship and this is the third time the Cardinal has defeated the Trojans in the season's final match.

9:29 pm, May 8, 2022

Stanford adds another | Stanford, USC 7

With 26 seconds left in the national championship, Stanford's Ryann Neushul scored her third goal of the game to put the Cardinal ahead 10-7, the team's largest lead of the afternoon.
9:24 pm, May 8, 2022

Fischer scores again | Stanford 9, USC 7

For the first time all afternoon, Stanford has a multiple-goal lead as Makenzie Fischer scored her fourth goal of the game — less than a minute after Jewel Roemer's go-ahead goal — to put the Cardinal ahead 9-7 with two minutes left. Southern California called a timeout as it tries to find a two-goal answer in the final two minutes.

9:17 pm, May 8, 2022

Stanford is back on top | Stanford 8, USC 7

After assisting on two of Stanford's first seven goals, Jewel Roemer added a goal of her own, at even strength with 2:54 to play, to put the Cardinal ahead 8-7 over the Southern California Trojans. The play followed a corner throw for Stanford.
9:15 pm, May 8, 2022

Kearns scores again | Stanford 7, USC 7

Southern California's Tilly Kearns scored two goals in the first minute and a half of the fourth period to once again tie the match, this time at 7-7. Her most recent goal came on a power play after Stanford's Sophie Wallace was called for exclusion.
9:11 pm, May 8, 2022

Both sides trade goals | Stanford 7, USC 6

Southern California entered the fourth period trailing by one goal but the Trojans opened the period on offense, which they turned into a Tilly Kearns goal that tied the match at six. However, Stanford quickly responded with a power-play goal after an exclusion call against Bayley Weber. Stanford's Makenzie Fischer scored her third goal, assisted by Jewel Roemer, her second.
9:02 pm, May 8, 2022

End of the third | Stanford 6, USC 5

Stanford turned a one-goal halftime deficit into a one-goal lead through the third period thanks to goals from Makenzie Fischer, Ryann Neushul and Sophie Wallace in a three-minute span in the middle of the period. The Cardinal leads 6-5.
8:59 pm, May 8, 2022

Stanford is back on top | Stanford 6, USC 5

Stanford's Sophie Wallace added the Cardinal's sixth goal of the match to put Stanford up on with 4:22 left in the third period, thanks to an assist from Aria Fischer, who now has two assists.
8:57 pm, May 8, 2022

We're tied again | Stanford 5, USC 5

Southern California didn't trail for long after Stanford went ahead 5-4 as Honnie Wandeweghe-O'Shea answered for the Trojans just over a minute later off an assist from Mireia Guiral, who now has a match-high three points.
8:55 pm, May 8, 2022

Stanford takes the lead | Stanford 5, USC 4

A minute after Makenzie Fischer tied the score at 4-4, her teammate Ryann Neushul added her second goal of the afternoon, assisted by Jewel Roemer, to put the Cardinal ahead 5-4 on a power-play goal.
8:54 pm, May 8, 2022

Stanford ties it! | USC 4, Stanford 4

After facing multiple two-goal deficits in the 2022 National Collegiate Women's Water Polo Championship, Stanford has climbed back to tie it at 4-all on Makenzie Fischer's goal in the opening minute of the third period. It's her second goal of the day.
8:39 pm, May 8, 2022

Trojans lead through two | USC 4, Stanford 3

Through two periods, Southern California leads Stanford 4-3 in the 2022 National Collegiate Women's Water Polo Championship as the Trojans have scored on four of their 12 shots, including three goals on seven power plays.
8:36 pm, May 8, 2022

Stanford cuts deficit to one | USC 4, Stanford 3

Stanford's Ryann Neushul cut the Cardinal's deficit to one, 4-3, with 1:40 left in the second period, thanks to an assist from teammate Aria Fischer.
8:29 pm, May 8, 2022

USC scores first in second period | USC 4, Stanford 2

Just like the first period, Southern California struck first in the second period, this time with Paige Hauschild scoring with 5:35 to play in the period, putting the Trojans ahead 4-2.
8:23 pm, May 8, 2022

Stanford scores again | USC 3, Stanford 2

After Southern California scored on consecutive power-play goals, Stanford score again, also on a power play, as Chloe Harbilas found the cage, then the back of the net, after an assist from teammate Sophie Wallace. The sequence followed an exclusion call against Southern California's Alejandra Aznar, who scored the Trojans' third goal.

At the end of the first period, Southern California leads 3-2.