CARLISLE, Pa. — Alison Marie Kokorowoski (Jr., Manhattan Beach, Calif.) scored five times – including four second half strikes – as No. 2-ranked/No. 9 position/Sierra Pacific Division Champion the University of California steered past No. 9/No. 8 position/Texas Division Champion the University of Texas, 12-6, in the final first round game of the 2026 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship hosted at the Carlisle YMCA Aquatic Center.
The victory advances the Golden Bears to a 9:00 a.m. Eastern quarterfinal showdown on Saturday, April 18, with No. 5/No. 1 position/Pacific Coast Division Champion the University of California-Los Angeles – which knocked off No. 16 position/Mid-Atlantic Division runner-up the University of Pittsburgh by a 20-1 count in the first game of the weekend tournament. Texas falls into the consolation side of the 16-team, 30-game championship as the Longhorns will clash with Pittsburgh at 9:50 p.m. later tonight.
California put the game away in the first quarter as Gabby Norris (Gr., Danville, Calif.) (4:19, man-up ; 1:47), Kokorowoski (3:23), Mia Walsh (Fr., Oakland, Calif.) (2:13) and Shereen Emadi (Jr., La Canada, Calif.) (1:19) strung together a quintet of offensive strikes to put the Golden Bears comfortably ahead 5-0. Nicole Dibos (Fr., Houston, Texas) put the Longhorns on the scoreboard with 48 ticks remaining in the opening seven minutes to shrink Cal’s lead to 5-1.
Walsh (6:27) returned the lead to five (6-1) with a man-up strike at 6:27 in the second quarter, but Dibos (5:47) responded to again inch the Longhorns back to within four at 6-2.
California iced the victory over the remainder of the first half as Kokorowoski (3:40, 2:50) and Sam Allen (Fr., Manhattan Beach, Calif.) (2:07) delivered prior to Cameron Flanary (Fr., San Antonio, Texas) spinning in a counterstrike with 47 ticks left on the second quarter clock to set the scoreboard at 9-3 in favor of the Golden Bears entering halftime.
Kokorowoski (6:20) pushed the lead to seven (10-3) 40 seconds into the third quarter and Maya Nanayakkara (Sr., Flower Mound, Texas) answered for Texas (4:57) to chip the Longhorns’ deficit back to six at 10-4.
Norris (4:18) and Kokorowoski (four seconds) deposited a pair to conclude the third quarter as California led 12-4 with seven minutes left in regulation.
The Longhorns valiantly attempt to make a comeback as Kennedy Hudson (Sr., Houston, Texas) delivered back-to-back markers at 2:03 and 1:08 (man-up), but the effort was too little too late as the Golden Bears rolled into the next round with a 12-6 victory.
For Texas, Hudson and DIbos both scored twice with Flanary and Nanayakkara chipping in solo markers. Goalkeeper AJ Watson (Sr., McGregor, Texas) took the loss with 12 saves.
Kokorowoski (five), Norris (three), Walsh (two), Emadi and Allen combined for Cal’s 12-goal offensive output in support of four combined saves from netminders Cece Lutz (Fr., Berkeley, Calif.) (one) and Sierra Palese (So., Rancho Palso Verdes, Calif.) (three).
University of Texas’ Hannah Baker (#5) & University of California’s Katie Nelson (#10)
University of Texas’ Cameron Flanary (#12) & University of California’s Katie Nelson (#10)
University of California’s Alison Marie Kokorowoski (#14) & University of Texas’ Gracie Lander (#10)
