No. 2 UCLA women’s water polo (12-1, 2-0 MPSF) will host No. 1 Stanford (8-0, 2-0) Saturday to continue a nine-game stretch at Spieker Aquatics Center in March. The Bruins fell to the reigning national champions by one score Feb. 15 and now have the opportunity to even the board. Daily Bruin assistant sports editor Gabriela Garcia analyzes the Cardinal roster ahead of the upcoming match.

Personnel:
Coach: John Tanner

Best Player: Jenna Flynn

Strength: Quick and consistent execution

Weakness: Closing consistency

X-Factor: Juliette Dhalluin

Stanford quickly starts firing offensively.

The Cardinals have outscored their opponents 34-15 in the first period and have not trailed in a match this season heading into halftime. Cementing offensive pressure against opponents has been key to Stanford’s perfect performance so far.

Who is at the heart of this fast-paced offense?

Redshirt junior driver Jenna Flynn.

Flynn has scored in all eight of the Cardinal’s matches thus far. The 2025 NCAA All-Tournament team honoree leads the squad with 29 goals and has notched multiple tallies in all but one match. The San Jose, California, local is also second on the team in assists with 15.

But Flynn is not the only Cardinal finding the back of the net.

Redshirt junior driver Juliette Dhalluin balances Stanford’s offense, leading the team with 19 assists and ranking second with 23 goals. Just behind Flynn and Dhualluin, three other players have reached double-digit goals and at least five have scored in every match.

Former Bruin two-meter defender Sienna Green has made an impact straight away with her new squad, tallying 15 goals – ranking third on the team – and adding five assists.

While the Cardinal offense is consistently putting up double-digit goal performances, the squad also executes on defense.

Stanford has only allowed then-No. 6 Long Beach State and then-No. 5 Arizona State to exceed 10 goals in a match this season.

This defensive prowess is due to the goalkeeper pair junior Christine Carpenter and senior Jackie King, who have interchangeably manned the goal in the first eight games. Carpenter has played in seven matches, tallying 48 saves and only allowing 41 goals against her.

Carpenter was in goal against the Bruins Feb. 15 holding them to their lowest goal total of this season with seven. The Yucaipa, California, local produced a .533 save percentage and had two steals.

King got the start most recently against No. 17 San Jose State, where she anchored the defense with nine saves and limited the Spartans to four goals.

The Bruins may see either goalie on Saturday and could be tested offensively once again.

However, the Cardinal’s opponents have found greater scoring opportunities in the second half.

Opponents have scored 20 goals against the Cardinal in the final 16 minutes, testing their stamina and depth. The Bruins made their late game push in the second half, outsourcing the Cardinal 4-2, in their first meeting.

Behind the Stanford bunch is long-time coach John Tanner, who is in his 29th season at the helm of the program. Tanner has led his squad to win five of the last seven NCAA titles. Under him the team has consistently meshed talent and built unity.

The Bruins will need to fend off the early Cardinal offensive surge and continue their pattern of late-game scoring runs to come out on top this time around.