Teams: No. 10 UC Davis vs. Santa Clara; No. 6 San Jose State
Records: Aggies, 21-8; Broncos, 16-14; Spartans, 18-12
Where: Schaal Aquatic Center
When: Friday at 5:30 p.m.; Saturday at noon
Who to watch: Time and time again, the Aggies‘ most experienced player has come up big when it matters most.
A three-year starter, senior Lindsay Kiyama has led UC Davis with three hat trick performances and has totaled an impressive 12 goals in five Big West Conference games.
The Concord, Calif. native is more than just the Aggies‘ leading scorer, though. She’s also won 87 of her 92 sprints on the season.
Did you know? For the five graduating seniors, this weekend will be the last time they play a game at Schaal Aquatics Center.
Kiyama, Diana Pivacek, Sophia Patronas, Sarah Odegard and Emily Kitchens will be honored prior to Saturday’s Picnic Day game against San Jose State.
Preview: The Aggies have finished up their Big West slate and are facing some challenging non-conference foes before putting the wraps on the regular season.
UC Davis defeated both No. 6 San Jose State and Santa Clara earlier this season, winning by scores of 10-9 and 11-6, respectively.
The Aggies are looking for repeat performances to get them going into the Big West Championships (Apr. 24 to 26) with a full head of steam. The steam has been heating up for quite a while, though, as coach Jamey Wright’s squad has won six of its last seven. Five of those wins were against conference opponents.
“I think we’re playing better defense now than we did at the beginning and middle of the season,” Wright said. “I think we’re also closing games out better.“
UC Davis has already clinched the No. 2 seed heading into the conference tournament. First, though, it needs to take care of business against the Broncos and Spartans this weekend.
“These are two really good teams to play the weekend before conference,” Wright said. “We could go 2-0 this weekend or we could go 0-2. What matters to me is how well we’re playing as we head into the conference tournament.“
– Sammy Brasch
