CARLISLE, Pa. — Emma Kaipainen (Sr., Ann Arbor, Mich.) of No. 1-ranked/No. 2 position/Big Ten Division Champion the University of Michigan scored four times to lead the way as the Wolverines slashed through No. 2/No. 3 position/Southwest Division Champion the University of California-San Diego, 14-8, to notch a spot in the 2026 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship title game.
Michigan – which has placed first (2023, 2024), second (2010, 2014, 2016, 2025), third (2007, 2011, 2015), fourth (2012, 2013, 2022) and seventh (2009) in the program’s prior trips to Nationals – will seek to claim the program’s third National Championship in four years on Sunday, April 19, as the Maize & Blue meet No. 2/No. 9 position/Sierra Pacific Division Champion the University of California for the National Championship. The Golden Bears punched their ticket into the title tilt by dispatching No. 11/No. 5 position/New England Division Champion Northeastern University, 12-8, in the 16-team, 30-game championship tournament’s earlier semifinal.
UC-San Diego – which holds prior third (2022, 2024) and fifth (2018) place finishes at the National Collegiate Club Championship – will aim to pick-up the program’s third Top Three mark on April 19 as the Tritons take on Northeastern at 11:30 a.m. in the Third Place game.
The Maize & Blue put the contest out of reach in the first quarter as Emma Laszlo (Gr., Alameda, Calif.) (3:21), Kaipainen (2:32; 1:51, penalty shot) and Zannah Baker (Sr., Ann Arbor, Mich.) (1:14) combined for a 4-0 output.
Elizabeth Hernandez (Jr., Murrieta, Calif.) snapped the Wolverines’ rampage with tossing in a strike at the 4:49 mark of the second quarter to shrink the Tritons’ deficit to 4-1. Back-to-back strikes by Laszlo (4:23) and Hannah Hulliberger (So., Commerce, Mich.) (2:46) expanded the spread to 6-1 prior to Shristi Bandyopadhyay (So., Fremont, Calif.) delivering a response for UC-San Diego with 38 seconds remaining in the first half to set the scoreboard at 6-2.
Michigan put the contest out of reach in the third quarter as Tara Bharadia (Jr., Palos Verdes, Calif.) (6:23), Hulliberger (3:59; 3:24), Kaipainen (1:14) and Devin Fisher (Fr.. Rockford, Mich.) (47 seconds) rocked the pipes with five markers compared to a pair of strikes from the Tritons’ Hernandez (6:08) and Bandyopadhyay (1:41) to expand the lead to 11-4 with seven minute of regulation left to contest.
Kaipainen (4:31) and Baker (3:58) added some insulation in the dawning moments of the fourth quarter to widen the gap between the teams to 13-4. Kirin Sidhu (Fr., Napa, Calif.) shrank UC-San Diego’s deficit to 13-5 at the 2:56 mark, but Clare Wieland (Gr., Lake Forest, Ill.) broke free for fire in a capstone goal for the Wolverines with 2:43 to play to make the score 14-5.
Mikayla Shekell (Fr., Long Beach, Calif.) (1:40) and Esther Sullivan (Jr., Fair Oaks, Calif.) (1:00, man-up; 27 seconds) finished out the scoring with a trio of tallies down the stretch to trim the Maize & Blue’s final margin of victory down to 14-8.
Sullivan, Hernandez and Bandyopadhyay each scored twice to accompany solo strikes from Sidhu and Shekell for UC-San Diego in the loss. Goalkeeper Story Waxman (Sr., Santa Monica, Calif./Santa Monica) stopped seven shots.
For Michigan, Kaipainen (four), Hulliberger (three), Baker (two), Laszlo (two), Bharadia, Wieland and Fisher combined for the Wolverines’ 14-score offensive output in support of a 12-save effort by goalkeeper Luisa Nierhoff (Sr., White Plains, N.Y.).
University of California-San Diego’s Story Waxman (#1)
University of Michigan’s Zannah Baker (#2)
