CARLISLE, Pa. — Helene MacBeth (Jr., San Clemente, Calif.) scored four times – including a trio in the fourth quarter – to notch Player of the Game recognition as No. 5-ranked/No. 1 position/Pacific Coast Division Champion the University of California-Los Angeles outwitted No. 18/No. 4 position/North Atlantic Division Champion Yale University to earn a spot in the 2026 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship Fifth Place game.
The Bruins – who recently placed second (2024), fifth (2010), sixth (2008), seventh (2011) and ninth (2009, 2023) at the National Collegiate Club Championship – will return to the water for their final game at 10:15 a.m. on Sunday, April 19, against the victor of a consolation game matching No 15/No. 7 position/Midwest Division Champion Grand Valley State University and No. 20/No. 11 position/Bay Area Division Champion San Jose State University.
Yale – which holds prior fourth (2025), 12th (2006) and 13th (2005, 2024) place marks at the National Collegiate Club Championship – will battle the fallen from the Lakers-Spartans clash at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, April 19, for Seventh Place.
The game was closer than the 13-6 final score indicates as a 5-0 outburst by the Bruins in the fourth quarter inflated an 8-6 contest at the conclusion of the third quarter.
Matty Winters (Jr., Malibu, Calif.) broke the ice for UCLA to stake the Bruins to a 1-0 margin before Riley Waters (Gr., Porland, Ore.) knotted the contest for Yale at 4:06 via a man-up strike. Addie Juelfs (So., Costa Mesa, Calif.) gave the Bulldogs a temporary 2-1 lead prior to Jordyn Nishimura (Jr., Honolulu, Hawaii) lining in an equalizer courtesy a penalty shot with 36 ticks left on the first quarter clock to square the teams at two-all.
Yale regained the lead at 3-2 39 seconds into the second quarter as Juelfs arched in a go-ahead strike, but back-to-back-to-back markers from Samantha DiMarco (Jr., Eugene, Ore.) (5:05, man-up), Nishimura (2:51, penalty shot) and Grayson Macleod (Jr., Santa Barbara, Calif.) (1:47, man-up) stake UCLA to a 5-3 lead. Julia Rosado (Jr., New Haven, Conn.) trimmed a score off Yale’s deficit prior to the halftime horn as the third-year swished a shot with 36 seconds left in shrinking the Bulldogs’ deficit to 5-4.
UCLA acquired some breathing room in the third quarter as MacBeth (5:42, man-up) and Sahra Sutaria (So., Los Altos, Calif.) (3:53) dented the twine to inflate the Bruins’ lead to 7-4. Waters responded at 3:13 with a successful penalty shot, Serena Wang (Fr., Irvine, Calif.) returned UCLA’s lead to a trio (8-5) with a man-up marker at 2:39 and Yale’s Marina Zernik (Gr., Thousand Oaks, Calif.) trimmed the Bulldogs’ deficit back to a pair at 8-6 with one second remaining on the third quarter clock.
The remainder of the contest was the exclusive domain of UCLA as MacBeth (6:38; 2:01; 1:21), Macleod (2:39) and Sutaria (41 seconds, man-up) combined for a 5-0 surge to inflate the final spread to 13-6.
For Yale, Waters and Juelfs accounted for pairs of goals with Rosado and Zernik slipping in solo tallies. In cage, Daisy Gemberling (Fr., Carpinteria, Calif.) made six saves in taking the loss.
On the other end of the tank, MacBeth (four), Macleod (two), Sutaria (two), Nishimura (two), DiMarco, Wang and Winters combined for UCLA’s offensive output. Goalkeepers Noelle Antongiovani (Jr., Novato, Calif.) and Charlie Flores (Jr., Malibu, Calif.) notched five and four saves, respectively.
Yale University’s Daily Gemberling (#1) prepares for a penalty shot by the University of California-Los Angeles’ Jordyn Nishimura (#10)
University of California-Los Angeles’ Noelle Antongiovanni (#1)
Yale University’s Riley Waters (#11) attempts to elude the University of California-Los Angeles’ Sahra Sutaria (#13)
