CARLISLE, Pa. — Paige Curcio (Med., Schwenksville, Pa.) scored five times to notch Player of the Game recognition as Division III No. 2-ranked/New York Division runner-up New York University upset No. 18/New York Division Champion Cornell University, 7-6, in a 13th/15th place game at the 2026 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship hosted at the Carlisle YMCA Aquatic Center.
NYU – which fell to Cornell University by a 10-7 score in the New York Division Championship title game – was added to the National Collegiate Club Championship field on Wednesday, April 15, following the election of Rocky Mountain Division Champion the University of Colorado to not compete. The Violets took advantage of the opportunity by stunning the Big Red after falling to Cornell by a 5-4 count during the regular season on February 7 at Columbia University and dropping the division title game at Hamilton College on April 12.
New York – which previously placed sixth (2015), 10th (2010, 2026), 11th (2008) and 15th (2009, 2014) in 16-team fields after notching ninth (2004) and eighth (2002) place marks in 12-team fields at the National Collegiate Club Championship – gained an early 1-0 advantage thanks to a strike by Curcio with 4:06 left in the first quarter. Hailey Wadell (Gr., Reading, Mass.) leveled the damage at one-all (3:43), NYU regained the lead at 2-1 via a penalty shot by Curcio (1:06) and Mallory Moore (So., Hillsborough, Calif.) answered for the Big Red with a five-meter conversion at the 12 seconds mark to square the squads at two-all by the conclusion of the first quarter.
Neither team mustered much offense in the second quarter until Curcio concluded a first-half hat-trick by drilling in a natural marker at 1:24 to stake the Violets to a 3-2 lead entering the contest’s midway point.
Kylie Williamson (Sr., Pleasant Hill, Calif.) pulled Cornell even by a three-all count at the 5:23 mark of the third quarter, but a trio of tallies by Curcio (5:00; 1:37) and Nicole Giblin (Law, Junio Beach, Fla.) (five seconds) doubled-up Cornell for a 6-3 lead a single seven-minute quarter left to play.
Becca Yen (Gr., Poughkeepsie, N.Y..) shrank Cornell’s deficit to 6-4 with 4:36 remaining in the fourth quarter to raise the possibility of a Big Red run to victory or at least force overtime. Giblin, however, had other plans as the she posted her second tally of the contest by putting away a natural score with 3:11 to play to expand NYU’s lead to 7-4- Gabriella Bensadoun (Sr., Berkeley, Calif.) connected for the terminal strike of the contest by swishing a shot with 2:37 remaining in the game to establish the 7-5 final score.
For NYU, Curcio (five) and Giblin (two) inflicted all the offense upon Cornell with goalkeeper Wendy Zhang (Sr., Seattle, Wash.) turning aside 10 shots as the Violets tie with the University of Washington for 13th in the in the final 16-team championship standings.
Cornell received single goals by Bensadoun, Williamson, Yen, Moore and Wadell to accompany 10 saves courtesy Abrielle Northgrave (Jr., Fullerton, Calif.) as the team adds a 15th place finish to its legacy – tying with the University of Pittsburgh for the spot as the 13th and 15th berths are not played out due to a lack of time during the the three-day, 30-game event.
In the history of the Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship, Cornell has previously tied for 15th (2005, 2006, 2011, 2019, 2024, 2026) and 13th (2012) to go along with an all-time best 11th (2018) place mark.
New York University’s Margaret Schmitz (#17) lines up a shot as Cornell University’s Cole Tao (#5) defends
New York University’s Mishka Kapoor (#11) & Cornell University’s Becca Yen (#15)
