Teams: UC Davis at No. 12 California
Records: Aggies, 3-8 (1-1); Golden Bears, 11-2 (2-1)
Where: Edwards Soccer Stadium – Berkeley, Calif.
When: Friday at 7p.m.
Who to watch: Senior defender Kristen Lopez had two assists in the Aggies’ 3-1 victory over Penn. She leads the team with six, and has played and started in every game since her sophomore year in 2009.
Did you know? Sophomore forward Cloey LemMon and junior goalkeeper Conley Craven were named NorPac Conference West Division Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively. LemMon’s hat trick powered UC Davis to victory over Penn last Sunday, while Craven allowed just one goal over the final 109 minutes she played last weekend.
Preview: The UC Davis Field Hockey squad is averaging 18 shots per game and has taken 28 more penalty corners than its opponents. Now the team must turn all those shots into goals and a good result against California.
Coach Vianney Campos is pleased with the way her team has played and keeps fighting.
“Statistically speaking, we are hanging in and actually dominating most games. We’re averaging 18 shots a game, which is fantastic,” she said. “The forwards must learn not just taking shots, but placing shots. It’s going to click and it’s going to work out eventually for us, I’m sure of it.”
Getting off quality shots will be a tough task this week, against a very fluid and very strong Cal squad. But the Aggies may have an advantage, because they scrimmaged against this very same Cal team earlier in the season.
“This is probably going to be our toughest match yet, but the scrimmage really helped us,” Campos said. “We know they are very good and pass very well and we have adjusted our structure and our mindset for them. We’re excited to play a team that’s ranked 12th, we are going to go all out because we have nothing to lose.”
UC Davis currently sits in third place in the NorPac. If the Aggies are able to pull off an upset however, they would climb ahead of the Golden Bears in the standings, with sole possession of second place.
– Russell Eisenman
