CARLISLE, Pa. — No. 11-ranked/No. 5 position/New England Division Champion Northeastern University utilized a 7-4 scoring run in the second quarter to acquire the difference as the Huskies handled No. 4/No. 12 position/Southeast Division Champion the University of Florida, 15-13, in the opening round of the 2026 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship hosted at the Carlisle Family YMCA Aquatic Center.
Northeastern advances to a 10:10 a.m. Eastern quarterfinal game on Saturday, April 18, against No. 18/No. 4 position/North Atlantic Division Champion Yale University – a squad which felled No. 12/No. 13/Northwest Division Champion the University of Washington by a 14-7 count earlier in the day. The loss drops Florida into the consolation side of the championship bracket as the Gators will clash with Washington at 6:20 p.m. this evening.
Courtesy the win/loss, Northeastern is guaranteed to claim Eighth Place or better in the 16-team championship field, while Florida is unable to exceed a Ninth Place finish at best.
The game was tight in the opening seven minutes as Marlie Hayes (Sr., Orlando, Fla.) drew first blood for Florida at 5:02 prior to Lyndsay Cheung (Jr., Irvine, Calif.) hurling in a response for the Huskies at 3:16. Cheung dented the twine again at 1:43 via a penalty shot, but Lorena Campos (Jr., Madrid, Spain) proved to be an Edward Woodward/Denzel Washington (depending on your generation) character to serve as the equalizer by firing in her squad’s second strike with 11 seconds left in the first quarter to even the damage at two-all.
It marked the last time the two teams were level as Kenza Ashworth (Jr., Palo Alto, Calif.) fired home back-to-back opportunities at the 6:37 and 5:35 marks of the second quarter to provide Northeastern a 4-2 lead. Cheung (4:29; 4:00, penalty shot; 3:22, man-up) took command with back-to-back-to-back markers to widen the lead to 7-2 prior to Ashworth (2:53) adding on as the Huskies held an 8-2 spread with nearly three minutes left in the first half.
Following a Gators’ timeout, Florida went on a tear as Lillie Herron (Gr., Orlando, Fla.) (2:47) and Lorena Campos (Jr., Madrid, Spain) (2:08, man-up; 1:11) strung together a trio of tallies to shrink its deficit to 8-5. Both teams delivered in the closing minutes of the first half as Marie Ryan (Jr, San Jose, Calif.) and Rose Pascual Anton (So., Madrid, Spain) lined in shots for Northeastern (56 seconds) and Florida (36 seconds), respectively, to make it a 9-6 contest at the midway point.
Cheung commenced the second half with her sixth and final score of the contest as the junior juked her defender for a man-up marker with 6:05 remaining in the third quarter.
Florida made the game interesting as Campos (5:41, man-up; 4:20) and Hayes (5:08) combined for a three-score run to put the Gators on the precipice of a comeback as the team closed to within 10-9.
However, Player of the Game Ashworth proved decisive by hammering in a trio of scores at 1:49, 1:24 and 50 seconds to expand Northeastern’s lead back to four at 13-9 before Eleanor Duffy (Sr. Orlando, Fla.) chipped the Huskies’ lead down to 13-10 with 24 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
Adeline Hanson (So., Sonora, Calif.) got the goal back via a man-up strike with 6:02 in the fourth quarter, but Herron (5:05) and Hayes (4:11, man-up) once again put Florida on the cusp of a comeback to shrink Northeastern’s lead down to 14-12.
Ashworth terminated the Gators’ run at 1:45 to expand the Huskies’ margin back to three at 15-12, but Campos slipped in her sixth goal of the contest to establish the 15-13 final score.
For Florida, Campos (six), Hayes (three), Herron (two), Anton and Duffy combined for the Gators’ 13 goals to support a 10 save performance by goalkeeper Elin Brugge (Sr., Sanford, Fla.).
Ashworth (seven) and Cheung (six) accounted for 13/15ths of Northeastern’s offensive output with Hanson and Ryan tacking on solo markers. Aasees Sandhu (So., Santa Clara, Calif.) stopped 11 shots to earn the victory in cage for the Huskies.
The University of Florida’s Elin Brugge (No. 1) prepares to stop a shot from Northeastern University’s Lindsay Cheung (#8)
The University of Florida’s Eva Meyler (#5) defends Northeastern University’s Avery Emison (#6)
Northeastern University’s Aasees Sandhu (#1A)
