Five Stanford women’s water polo players, past and current, collected Olympic gold medals as Team USA defeated Spain 8-5 in the final round of the women’s water polo tournament.

Brenda Villa ’03, Jessica Steffens ’10, Melissa Seidemann ’13, Annika Dries ’14 and Maggie Steffens ’16 helped the US team capture its first Olympic gold in women’s water polo, which became an Olympic event in 2000.

All five players saw a considerable amount of playing time and netted at least one goal throughout the tournament.

Villa served as the captain of Team USA and scored six goals, Jessica Steffens was a huge contributor to Team USA’s defense, Seidemann accounted for seven goals, Dries was a crucial presence at the center position, and Maggie Steffens scored an astounding 21 goals, the most by any player in the tournament.

In the gold medal game, Maggie Steffens netted five goals on five shots while Villa and Seidemann also each scored a goal.

–George Chen