CARLISLE, Pa. — Christina Fernandez (Sr., San Jose, Calif.) and Monica Ureno (Sr., Fremont, Calif.) combined for seven goals with four and three, respectively, to share Player of the Game recognition as No. 20-ranked/No. 11 position/Bay Area Division Champion San Jose State University big-timed Division III No. 2/No. 6 position/New York Division runner-up New York University, 9-6, in the opening round of the 2026 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship.
Competing at the Carlisle Family YMCA Aquatic Center, the Spartans never trailed in punching first-time Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship participant SJSU’s ticket to a 12:30 p.m. Eastern quarterfinal showdown on Saturday, April 18, with No. 2/No. 3 position/Southwest Division Champion the University of California-San Diego. UC-San Diego made the quarterfinals via a 15-4 sinking of No. 9/No. 14 position/Atlantic Division Champion the United States Naval Academy earlier in the day.
The loss drops NYU – which is competing in the field as a last minute replacement for Rocky Mountain Division the University of Colorado – into a consolation round game during the evening of Friday, April 17, at 7:30 p.m. against Navy.
Due to the result of the San Jose-New York game, the Spartans can not finish lower than Eighth Place in the final standings, while the Violets are unable to claim higher than Ninth Place.
San Jose State put the Empire State squad behind the eight-ball early on as Ureno broke the ice at 4:23 prior to NYU’s Ann-Mei Sun (So., San Jose, Calif.) flushing an equalizer at 3:09 to square the squads at one-all. Fernandez (1:51) and Kasey Coughlin (Sr., Sacramento, Calif.) (1:02, man-up) shattered the deadlock, however, as the duo deposited balls into the net during the final 111 seconds of the first quarter to stake the Spartans to a 3-1 lead after seven minutes of competition.
Paige Curcio (Med., Schwenksville, Pa.) erased the deficit, however, as the third-year medical student surgically worked through the SJSU defense for consecutive strikes at 4:41 and 4:04 in the second quarter to balance the scoreboard at three-all. The lead was short-lived as Fernandez fired home a go-ahead strike at 2:17 as San Jose State entered halftime with a narrow 4-3 lead.
The third quarter proved to be the decisive frame of the contest as Ureno (3:03), Fernandez (2:29, penalty shot; 1:42) and Juliana Vargas (So., Commerce, Calif.) rattled the iron with back-to-back-to-back-to-back markers to account for a 4-0 outburst by SJSU to widen the West Coast squad’s spread to 8-3 entering the concluding seven minutes of regulation.
Sun shone through in the first minute of the fourth quarter by converting for her second strike with 5:59 on the clock to inch the Violets within four at 8-4. Curcio chipped another goal off New York’s deficit by lining in a frozen rope penalty shot (4:12), but Ureno added some insulation at 2:39 to inflate San Jose State’s lead back to four at 9-5. Curcio attempted to revive NYU’s comeback hopes by tossing in her fourth goal of the contest with 2:20 left in regulation, but San Jose State kept their foes in check the rest of the way to claim a 9-6 victory.
For NYU, Curcio (four) and Sun (two) combined for the Violets’ offense with goalkeeper Sydney McCleave (Fr., Mission Viejo, Calif.) stopping 16 shots in cage.
Fernandez (four) and Ureno (three) inflicted the bulk of San Jose State’s offensive damage to accompany solo tallies from Vargas and Coughlin. Nefeli Tsangaropoulos (Jr., San Carlos, Calif.) picked up the win guarding the pipes as the netminder turned aside 12 New York scoring attempts.
San Jose State University’s Kasey Coughlin (#3) pursues New York University’s Paige Curcio (#7)
San Jose State University’s Cristina Fernandez (#4) makes an effort to elude New York University’s Mishka Kapoor (#11)
