UC Davis faced its first two non-conference opponents of the season last week at Aggie Stadium. Both times, its East Coast foes came away with wins.
The Aggies fell to Vermont 20-12 before losing 13-8 to Robert Morris. UC Davis forged comebacks in both games, but didn’t have enough to battle back for the win in either matchup.
UC Davis‘ homestand concludes this afternoon against Colgate. Today’s match is the third in a stretch of eight straight non-conference games, the next five of which will be played on the East Coast. The game begins at 3:30 p.m.
Wednesday – Vermont 20, UC Davis 12
The Aggies lost their first non-conference game Wednesday at the hands of the Vermont Catamounts.
After being down 9-4 at the half, the Aggies scored five of the first seven goals in the second half to pull within two with 14:15 remaining.
The Catamounts responded with a 7-1 run to improve their lead to 18-10 en route to the 20-12 win.
“I feel encouraged, although I feel like the game could have and should have been closer,” said coach Elaine Jones. “I am pleased with our overall effort in the second half.“
The 20 goals tied a season-worst for the Aggies. On Feb. 15, they fell 20-3 to Stanford.
Junior Britt Farquharson led UC Davis in scoring with three goals and two assists. Senior Patrice Clark and sophomore Gina Hoffmire each scored hat tricks. Jacklyn Taylor scored twice and sophomore Christina Corsa added a goal to complete the Aggies scoring.
Saturday – Robert Morris 13, UC Davis 8
On Saturday, the Aggies faced off against the Robert Morris Colonials, one of two teams they’ll face from the North East Conference this season.
UC Davis was down 8-3 going into the half, but responded early in the second by scoring four of the first five goals to pull within two.
Much like in Wednesday’s game against the Catamounts, the Colonials scored three unanswered goals to extend their lead to 12-7 to pull away from the Aggies.
Farquharson again led the Aggies in scoring, posting a career-high five goals. Hoffmire chipped in with two scores and Clark added another to round out the Aggies scoring.
Defensively, the Aggies were led by Molly Peterson and Eri Ishikawa. Peterson, a junior, caused two turnovers and four groundballs. Ishikawa, Peterson’s co-captain, earned two steals and four groundballs.
The Aggies third consecutive loss dropped them to 2-5 on the year. UC Davis remains ranked No. 4 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation behind Stanford, California and Oregon – the three MPSF teams to which the Aggies have lost.
JOHN S. HELLER can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.
