With the Big Splash on the horizon, the Cal women’s water polo team have one final chance in the regular season to prove they can compete with the top teams in the nation.
On Friday at 5 p.m. at the Spieker Aquatic Complex, the No. 5 Bears will take on Stanford in their last conference game of the season. The Cardinal (25-1, 5-0) defeated USC last weekend to take over the No. 1 spot in MPS, making them the only undefeated team left in the league.
After losing to four out of the top five teams the season, the home tilt will be the last chance for Cal to avoid going winless against the best teams in the nation.
Because of the losses, the Bears have stagnated in the No. 5 spot for most of the season. While No. 5 in the league is admirable, only the top three teams from MPSF will move on to the NCAA tournament in May.
A win against Stanford will not help move them move up in the rankings this late in the season, but it will serve as starting place to gain some momentum heading into the MPSF tournament.
“(A win) would be a good confidence booster because they’re ranked No. 1 right now,” senior center Dana Ochsner said. “Stanford is always a little extra because, you know, it’s Stanford.”
But the Cardinals are No. 1 for a reason — three players were featured on the 2012 U.S. Olympic gold medal-winning team.
Senior Melissa Seidemann, junior Annika Dries, and freshman Maggie Steffens have been the Olympian triumvirate that’s been carrying Stanford all season. Seidemann leads the Cardinals with 59 goals, making her fourth on MPSF’s scoring list this season. Steffens is close behind, with 48 goals this season, as she rounds out the top-10 on MPSF’s list.
But these former Olympians and the big-name attraction they carry do not concern the Bears in terms of preparing for the upcoming game.
“I don’t see them as anything impossible; we’re not treating them like they’re superstars,” said Ochsner. “We have to acknowledge that they have some really good girls — you can’t overlook that. But we’re not going to do anything special just for them.”
The Bears have their own offensive forces in seniors Ochsner and Emily Csikos. Csikos, who leads the team with 45 goals this season, recently broke the all-time leading scorers’ record at Cal with 214 goals in her career. Ochsner averages two goals per game, needing only 11 more goals to break into the top 10 on Cal’s all-time list.
But the Bears’ biggest ally for Friday can be its home pool. Cal has the privilege of playing at home for their last conference game and as well as the upcoming MPSF tournament on April 26 to 28.
Cal must place first in the tournament if they want any chance of going to the NCAA tournament in May, and a home court advantage could be a positive intangible for the Bears.
“You know the pool — it works into your routine how we get to dress in our locker room, we get to warm up where we usually warm up and it’s comfortable here,” Ochsner said. “You still have to treat it like a tournament, but it definitely takes some of the stress off.”
Alicia Fong covers women’s water polo. Contact her at [email protected]