CARLISLE, Pa. — Cristina Fernandez (Sr., San Jose, Calif.) scored a game-high five times to net Player of the Game recognition as No. 20-ranked/No. 11 seed/Bay Area Division Champion San Jose State University went the distance in overcoming No. 18/No. 4 position/North Atlantic Division Champion Yale University, 13-11, in overtime to take the 2026 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship Seventh Place game at the Carlisle YMCA Aquatic Center.
A first-time participant at the National Collegiate Club Championship, the Spartans overcame a 7-4 deficit at the conclusion of the third quarter to outscore the Bulldogs by a 5-2 count in the fourth quarter to force overtime. In the extra three-minute periods, SJSU outscored Yale 2-1 in both frames to head back to the West Coast with a seventh place mark.
The game was close for the majority of the contest as Monica Ureno (Sr., Fremont, Calif.) staked the Spartans to a 1-0 margin 29 seconds into the contest. Yale responded with a trio of strikes by Marina Zernik (Gr., Thousand Oaks, Calif.) (4:09), Katherine Dick (Jr., Florence, Italy) (2:33) and Riley Waters (Gr., Portland, Ore.) (1:24) to push ahead 3-1 prior to Juliana Vargas (So., Commerce, Calif.) (50 seconds) and Fernandez (no time remaining, man-up) swishing a pair to equalize the score at three-all following seven minutes of action.
Dick (4:54) and Fernandez (4:36) delivered for their teams to commence the second quarter. However, the Bulldogs got off the porch during the remainder of the first half as Waters (4:22) and Zernik (51 seconds, man-up) converted on scoring chances to provide Yale a 6-4 margin entering halftime.
Neither team mustered much offense in the third quarter until Dick drove home a shot at the buzzer to widen the Bulldogs’ lead to 7-4.
Back-to-back strikes by Fernandez at 6:22 and 5:23 returned hope to San Jose State as the Spartans closed to within 7-6 in the early going of the fourth quarter. Dick widened Yale’s lead back to a pair (8-6) at the five minute mark, but back-to-back-to-back strikes by Ureno (4:32; 1:09) and Vargas (2:46) put SJSU back in front for the first time since a 1-0 margin. The lead was short-lived as Waters (10 seconds) tossed in an equalizer to bring on overtime.
In the first three minute period, Yale’s Addie Juelfs (So., Costa Mesa, Calif.) (1:43) and Ureno (44 seconds, man-up) landed scoring blows before Fernandez ripped in a go-ahead strike with three seconds on the clock for an 11-10 San Jose State lead.
Kaitlynn DeSimone (Sr., Discovery Bay, Calif.) and Gabriela Mora (Jr., Visalia, Calif.) inflated the margin to 13-10 with scores at 2:06 and 32 seconds, respectively, in the second OT period before Maria Weldon (So., Honolulu, Hawaii) delivered the final blow to pull Yale within 13-11 prior to the concluding horn.
Yale – which adds an eighth place mark to prior fourth (2025), 12th (2006) and 13th (2005, 2024) place finishes at the National Collegiate Club Championship – received four goals from Dick, a trio by Waters and a pair by Zernik along with solo tallies by Juelfs and Weldon to support a four save effort by goalkeeper Daisy Gembergling (Fr., Carpinteria, Calif.).
Fernandez (five), Ureno (four), Vargas (two), Mora and DeSimone combined for San Jose State’s offense. Nefeli Tsangaropoulos (Jr., San Carlos, Calif.) stopped 12 shots in picking up the victory between the pipes.
Yale University’s Marina Zernik (#12) & San Jose State University’s Juliana Vargas (#2)
Yale University’s Marina Zernik (#12) & San Jose State University’s Sarah Overton (#18)
San Jose State University’s Kasey Coughlin (#3) seeks an opening as Yale University’s Katherine Dick (#6) defends
Yale University’s Marina Zernik (#12) defends San Jose State University’s Monica Ureno (#16)
