A final push is all that UC Davis needed to beat Cal State Northridge on Sunday.
“We just needed to finish,” said defender Aisha Lott after a 1-0 loss to the Matadors.
UC Davis did finish the job Friday in an exciting match against UC Irvine. The Aggies clicked in all facets of the game, getting 10 shots off on offense and saving seven Anteater shots.
The loss against Northridge concluded the weekend as the Matadors’ Farryn Townley scored the golden goal in the last minute of the first overtime.
After the weekend, UC Davis holds a Big West Conference record of 1-2 with five games left to play.
Friday – UC Davis 2, UC Irvine 1
UC Davis battled hard to top the UC Irvine, giving the Aggies their first conference win of the season.
The physical play was apparent in the fact that two UC Davis players received yellow cards and play was stopped a total of 21 times for fouls – nine for the Anteaters and 12 for the Aggies.
“The challenge is to score enough goals, so that whatever [the referees] do doesn’t matter,” said coach Mary Claire Robinson. “We have to take control of the game on the score board.”
The Aggies did just that.
In the 31st minute, Marisa Boge scored her sixth goal of the season with an assist by Lisa Kemp, getting the Aggies on the board first.
“Our focus was work rate, and we just did a better job,” Robinson said. “That was really the focus – to play clean enough and quick enough.”
The offense didn’t let down in the second half as Rochelle VanBuskirk scored her conference leading 12th goal of the season in the 67th minute of the match.
The deadly combination of Boge and VanBuskirk netted what would prove to be the winning goal.
“A dynamic duo, they are,” Robinson said. “They’ve done a very good job.”
In the 80th minute of play, Tanya Taylor of the Anteaters put the only goal on the scoreboard for UC Irvine, accounting for the final score of 2-1.
“I was really pleased with the work rate,” said Robinson. “We had good work today from everybody.”
Sunday – UC Davis 0, Cal State Northridge 1 (OT)
The Aggies remained at home for Sunday afternoon’s match against Cal State Northridge.
UC Davis and Northridge took a combined 32 shots through the first 99 minutes of play, none of which found the back of the net.
In the 100th minute, Townley of the Matadors blasted a ball to the top left corner of the Aggie net for the golden goal.
The loss had the Aggies feeling as if there was unfinished business.
“It’s a combination of everything,” Boge said. “We weren’t getting to the ball fast enough, and our passes weren’t getting completed.
“I think they worked a little harder than we did,” Robinson said. “We got behind them a little bit and we had to chase. Their off-the-ball movement was better than ours.”
The players agreed.
“It’s just that last push to get it in the net and to keep it out of the net,” Lott said.
The Aggies continue conference play against Cal Poly on Friday.
GRACE SPRAGUE can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.
