Turnovers can kill a team – and they almost cost the Aggies two games.
UC Davis committed 46 turnovers between their two matches over the weekend and was able to scrape out a victory over St. Mary’s on Thursday but fell to Oregon yesterday.
“We had a bunch of turnovers between the two games,” said coach Elaine Jones. “The only difference between them was that we scored more goals against St. Mary’s.”
Junior Gina Hoffmire led the Aggies with eight goals over the two games while senior Molly Lapolla added five.
With the split, the Aggies move to 9-4 on the season and 2-2 in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation games.
Thursday – UC Davis 14, St. Mary’s 13
The first time the Aggies met the Gaels, UC Davis won handily.
The second time around, it wasn’t as easy.
UC Davis held on to a slim lead to top St. Mary’s despite being outscored 7-3 in the second half.
The Aggies jumped out to a quick 7-2 lead within the first 15 minutes of play, including four unanswered goals after the opening whistle.
The Gaels were able to cut the Aggie lead to two, twice in the first half but on both occasions UC Davis was able to pull away with another goal of their own. Entering the break, the score was 11-6 in favor of the Aggies.
St. Mary’s was able to cut the UC Davis lead to three in the first seven minutes of the second period. With 11:43 left in the game, the Aggie lead was just one.
Freshman Hannah Mirza added another goal to give UC Davis a lead they wouldn’t lose.
“There were some good things from this game,” Jones said. “But there were still a lot of turnovers and mistakes, something we need to work on.”
Sunday – Oregon 14, UC Davis 6
UC Davis was perfect at Aggie Stadium – until Oregon showed up.
The Ducks had the advantage both offensively and defensively throughout the match en route to the victory.
“Oregon was a very beatable team,” Jones said. “It was unfortunate that we didn’t play well. The ball just didn’t seem to bounce our way.”
UC Davis scored the first goal 45 seconds into the match, the only lead they would have in the game. Oregon kept the ball in the Aggie zone for most of the first half and capitalized on scoring opportunities.
The Ducks went on scoring runs of two, three and four goals in the first half to secure a 9-3 lead entering the break.
The Aggies drew first blood in the second half as junior Christina Corsa scored an unassisted goal 20-seconds into the second half. Oregon once again capitalized on Aggie mistakes to quiet any thoughts of an Aggie comeback.
“It was not a good game all around,” Jones said. “Our defense did not play well and our attackers weren’t finishing their shots.”
Oregon added five goals after the break to secure the MPSF victory.
Hoffmire scored three goals to lead the Aggies while Corsa, Mirza and senior Molly Peterson netted one score each.
Despite the loss, Jones is confident her team will bounce back.
The Aggies finish the regular season with two away MPSF matches against Fresno State and Stanford on Friday and Sunday, respectively.
JASON ALPERT can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.