CARLISLE, Pa. — Sophia Gaier (Fr., New Lenox, Ill.) of No. 15-ranked/No. 7 position/Midwest Division Champion Grand Valley State University scored seven times to collect Player of the Game accolades as the Lakers dunked No. 20/No. 11 position/Bay Area Division Champion San Jose State University, 11-9, to earn a spot in the 2026 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship Fifth Place game.
Competing at the Carlisle YMCA Aquatics Center, GVSU built a 6-4 by the conclusion of the first quarter and never looked back in overcoming San Jose State to punch the program’s ticket to the Fifth Place contest.
The Lakers will return to the water at 10:15 a.m. on Sunday, April 19, to take on No. 5/No. 1 position/Pacific Coast Division Championship the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA), while San Jose State will battle No. 18/No. 4 position/North Atlantic Division Champion Yale University at 9:00 a.m. in the Seventh Place contest.
GVSU – which previously placed sixth (2016, 2017), seventh (2025) and 11th (2010, 2022) at the Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship – fell behind 18 seconds into the game as first-time participant San Jose State received a marker from Cristina Fernandez (Sr., San Jose, Calif.) with 6:42 on the first quarter clock. Nora Magers (Fr., Forest Hills, Mich.) responded for the Lakers 12 seconds later, but Katlynn DeSimone (Sr., Discovery Bay, Calif.) cashed in a man-up opportunity at 3:42 to put the Spartans back in front at 2-1.
Gaier commenced her offensive production at 3:42 to tie the game at two-all with a power-play conversion, Monica Ureno (Sr., Fremont, Calif.) delivered for San Jose State at 3:24 to put the Spartans back in front and Taylor Grifhorst (Sr., Grandville, Mich.) uncorked an equalizer at 2:10 to square the squads at three-all.
GVSU gained its inaugural lead at 1:25 as Gaier flushed a man-up opportunity to go in front 4-3, but Juliana Vargas (So., Commerce, Calif.) evened the damage for San Jose State at four-all.
It marked the last time the Spartans were the equals of the Lakers as Gaier (35 seconds, man-up) and Maya Wiltrout (So., Kentwood, Mich.) (one second) spun home strikes to stake Grand Valley State to a 6-4 scoreboard advantage following seven minutes of back-and-forth competition.
Gaier expanded her team’s lead to 7-4 via a penalty shot at the 4:50 mark of the second quarter before Fernandez (4:28, man-up) and Ureno (3:54) turned up the pressure on GVSU with a pair of tallies to close within 7-6.
Gaier answered the bell for the Lakers by unleashing her fifth strike of the first half to provide Grand Valley State with an 8-6 lead 15 seconds short of halftime.
Gaier opened the second half the way she closed the first – by pumping a ball into the twine – as the first-year flummoxed San Jose State netminder Nefeli Tsangaropoulos (Jr., San Carlos, Calif.) with 4:43 remaining in the third quarter to widen the gap to 9-6.
The Spartans erased two goals off their deficit prior to the termination of the third quarter as DeSimone (2:40, penalty shot) and Isabelle Hartsell (Jr., Fresno, Calif.) (1:22) shaved GVSU’s lead down to 9-8.
Grand Valley State held on in the fourth quarter, however, as Gaier (6:33, penalty shot) and Wiltrout (1:23, man-up) chipped in tallies to sandwich a natural marker by Sarah Overton (Fr., Pleasanton, Calif.) at 2:32 for the 11-9 final score.
Ureno, DeSimone and Fernandez led SJSU’s offense with pairs of goals to accompany solo strikes by Vargas, Hartsell and Overton. Tsangaropoulos took the loss with nine saves.
Gaier (seven), WIltrout (two), Grifhorst and Magers combined for Grand Valley State’s scoring to support a nine save effort by netminder Elsie Roberts (Jr., Hudsonville, Mich.).
San Jose State University’s Juliana Vargas (#2) prepares to pass the ball as Grand Valley State University’s Makayla Moles (#8) closes in
Grand Valley State University’s Sophia Gaier (#11)
