HUNTSVILLE, Alabama — Gaia Hinds (Sr., Lake Elsinore, Calif.) scored three times to lead all scorers as No. 4-ranked/Southwest Division Champion the University of California-San Diego overcame No. 10/Texas Division Champion Texas A&M University, 13-4, in the quarterfinals of the 2022 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship hosted at the Huntsville Aquatics Center.
Courtesy the victory, UC-San Diego reaches the tournament’s semifinals as the Tritons will battle No. 1/Sierra Pacific Division Champion the University of California at 6:20 p.m. later today with a spot in the 2022 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship title game on the line.
Texas A&M – which will face No. 13/New England Division Champion Boston College at 7:30 p.m. with a berth to the Fifth Place game at stake – fell behind 3-0 in the first quarter and was unable to cut UC-San Diego’s lead to under two goals the rest of the way in suffering the defeat.
Julia Derunes (So., San Diego, Calif.) opened the scoring the Tritons exactly one minute into the contest by swishing a man-up opportunity before Sarah Horne (So., Roseville, Calif.) and Natalie Kaplanyan (Fr., Glendale, Calif.) put away natural markers at 3:27 and 2:38 to give UC-San Diego a 3-0 lead after seven minutes of play.
Alexis Hedge put the Aggies on the board at the 5:46 mark of the second quarter, but Kimberly Holland (Jr., Tustin, Calif.) (4:15) and Kaplanyan (3:37, penalty shot) answered to push the margin to four at 5-1.
Emily Traynor delivered a counterpoint at 3:00 to once again move Texas A&M within three at 5-2, but Hinds (1:53; 26 seconds, penalty shot) and Holland (1:07, man-up) combined for a 3-0 scoring run to the halftime horn to provide UC-San Diego an 8-2 spread heading into the break.
The lead continued to grow in the third quarter as Hinds (4:48), Ryan Carmody (Fr., Cincinnati, Ohio) (3:56) and Kristen Plat (Sr., La Verne, Calif.) (2:46, man-up) expanded the spread to nine at 11-2.
Texas A&M was able to trim its deficit back to seven prior to the termination of the third quarter as Kayla Shaunfield netted a pair of natural goals at 2:29 and 38 seconds to inch the Aggies back to within 11-4 heading into the final seven minutes of regulation.
However, the remainder of the contest was the domain of UC-San Diego as Emma Cooper (Sr., Palm Desert, Calif.) and Derunes heaved home even-strength (5:07) and penalty shot (3:03) scores, respectively, for the 13-4 conclusion.
For Texas A&M – which previously appeared at the 2001 (Eighth), 2005 (12th), 2008 (15th), 2010 (13th), 2013 (12th), 2014 (12th), 2015 (15th), 2017 (Ninth) and 2018 (13th) Women’s National Collegiate Club Championships – Shaunfield led the attack with a pair of markers. Hedge and Traynor both posted solo strikes in support of an eight save effort by netminder Corine Kaderli.
UC-San Diego – which holds prior Second (2013), Fifth (2017), Eighth (2010), 10th (2015) and 11th (2009) place marks at the Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship – received multi-goal games from Hinds (three), Derunes (two), Kaplanyan (two) and Holland (two) to accompany single tallies from the hands of Plat, Horne, Cooper and Carmody.
The goaltending duo of Lian Lumada (Sr., Long Beach, Calif.) and Alex Bussey (Fr., Stockton, Calif.) combined for six saves between the pipes for the Aggies.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| No. 10 Texas A&M University |
0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | – | 4 |
| No. 4 University of California-San Diego | 2 | 5 | 3 | 2 | – | 13 |
| UCSD Goals: | Gaia Hinds (3); Julia Derunes (2); Natalie Kaplanyan (2); Kimberly Holland (2); Kristen Plat; Sarah Horne; Emma Cooper; Ryan Carmody | |||||
| Texas A&M Goals: | Kayla Shaunfield (2); Alexis Hedge; Emily Traynor | |||||
| Saves: | UCSD – Lian Lumada (3, 21 minutes), Alex Bussey (3, seven minutes); Texas A&M – Corine Kaderli (8) | |||||
| Exclusions: | UCSD – 1 ; Texas A&M – 8 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | UCSD – 6-for-8 ; Texas A&M – -for-1 | |||||
| Sprints: | UCSD – 1-for-4 (3rd) ; Texas A&M – 3-for-4 (1st, 2nd, 4th) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | None | |||||
| Officials: | Andre Nyce; Dustin Devaney | |||||
Texas A&M University’s Riley Murray (#5) looks for an opening against the University of California-San Diego
Texas A&M University’s Alexis Hedge (#12) defends University of California-San Diego’s Natalie Kaplanyan (#8)
Texas A&M University’s Avery Davis (#3) and the University of California-San Diego’s Gaia Hinds (#5)
Texas A&M University’s Alexis Hedge (#12) attempts to split the University of California-San Diego defense
