July 12, 2026
Photo by Lynelle Leinbach
LANCASTER, Pa. — New York Athletic Club keeps making history.
For the first time in the club’s 20-year WPSL tenure, the New York City-based side is East Region champions, stunning Pennsylvania Classics 8-2 in the East Region Final on Sunday at Lancaster Bible College.
With the win, NYAC advances for the first time in the club’s rich history to the WPSL Championships July 18 and 19 in Riverside, Mo.
Sunday’s performance was indicative of the dominance NYAC demonstrated throughout its first Metropolitan Conference-winning 2026 campaign, going 7-0-1 in the regular season. Sunday’s win brings NYAC’s record to 9-0-1 in WPSL play.
NYAC took it to the Mid-Atlantic Conference champs from the opening whistle. Victoria Vinals scored from the penalty mark after Dylan Jovanovic was chopped down deep inside the penalty area in a last-ditch attempt to keep her from going on goal just five minutes into the match. Vinals sent Classics goalkeeper Piper Miller the other way, tucking the spot kick just inside of the post to make it 1-0.
Abby Douglass made it 2-0 in the 12th minute smashing home a loose ball in the Classics penalty six-yard box after Miller's punch failed to get clear, falling into traffic in front of the goal.
Kayla Wong made it 3-0 in the 19th minute, scoring a long-range blast with her right foot after getting herself out of trouble 25 yards from goal. The driven ball skipped off the turf three yards from goal before it slid just inside the post past a diving Miller.
Rachel Rouse made it 4-0 in the 27th minute, cleaning up a Jovanovic rebound from inside the six-yard box.
Josie Tunney made it 5-0 in the 39th minute with a dipping first-time drive from the top of the 18 to close out the scoring for the half.
Pennsylvania Classics showed the resilience and determination that got it into the East Region Final coming out of halftime. Lindsey Husic ran onto a ball played in over the stop, slotting it past NYAC goalkeeper Tatiana Saunders who was charging off her line to cut the angle to make it 5-1.
NYAC responded almost immediately thanks to the hard work of Jovanovic, whose cross from the endline found Wong for her second goal of the match in the 52nd minute.
Jovanovic, the club's leading scorer with nine regular-season goals, was rewarded for her hard work to make it 7-1 in the 62nd minute with her left foot from outside the penalty area off a NYAC counterattack.
Caelan Bacon got in on the action in the 67th minute to make it 8-1 for NYAC, taking a deftly weighted pass from Jovanovic as she burst through the Classics back line unmarked, slotting the ball to the far post.
With the game out of reach, Classics did not roll over. Husic scored her second of the game to make it 8-2 in the 70th minute, outpacing her defender to a ball played over the top and deftly chipping the onrushing goalkeeper.
New York Athletic Club looks to continue to make history as it advances for the first time in club history to the WPSL Championships at Riverside Stadium July 18 and 19. NYAC will face the South Region champions in the first of two semifinal matches Saturday July 18. Kickoff is set for 9 a.m. CDT. The winner advances to the WPSL Championships Final on Sunday, July 19
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East Region Final
Sunday, July 12, 2026
1 p.m. EDT
Lancaster Bible College
Lancaster, Pa.
Pennsylvania Classics: 2
New York Athletic Club: 8
0-1: Vinals (PK) 6’
0-2: Douglass 12’
0-3: Wong 19’
0-4: Rouse 27’
0-5: Tunney 39’
1-5: Husic 49’
1-6: Wong 52’
1-7: Jovanovic 62’
1-8: Bacon 67’
2-8: Husic
Misconduct: None
Pennsylvania Classics: Piper Miller; Madison Herb, Melanie Love, Lindsey Husic, Jenna Daveler; Ava Mischler, Joey Devlin, Amber Liu; Maggie Groh, Isabel Coy, Maia Iannuzzi. Substitutes: Abby Rowley, Bella Tran, Ella Byrne, Lea Carmona.
New York Athletic Club: Tatiana Saunders; Abby Douglass, Caelan Bacon, Dylan Jovanovic, Emily Smith, Emily Villanueva, Kayla Wong, Kelly Ann Livingston, Nina Bodow, Rachel Rouse, Victoria Vinals. Substitutes: Asha Locke, Gigi Day, Josie Tunney, Lauren Ahearn, Nicole Patino, Taylor Ferraro.
