Teams: UC Davis at Pacific; at Cal Poly
Records: Aggies, 7-4-1 (1-1-1); Tigers, 8-8-3 (1-1-1); Mustangs, 7-5-1 (1-1-0)
Where: Aggie Stadium; Alex G. Spanos Stadium
When: Today at 3 p.m.; Sunday at 1 p.m.
Who to watch: Sophomore defender Mary Beth Mazurek has been a workhorse for the Aggie defense this season.
The Ventura, Calif. native has played every single minute of every single game and her hard work has not gone unnoticed by Coach MaryClaire Robinson.
“Mary’s been solid, calm and confident for us this season,” Robinson said, “We’ve definitely benefited from having her out there for us.”
Did you know? UC Davis has not beaten Pacific in three years. However, as evidenced by their recent win over UC Riverside and tie against UC Irvine, this year’s squad should not be underestimated.
“We haven’t had a win against Pacific in three years,” Robinson said, “We want this one back.”
Preview: The Aggies are heading into the weekend fresh off their first conference victory. They are hoping to leave the weekend with two more.
Currently fifth in the Big West, UC Davis will open the week on Thursday afternoon against sixth-place Pacific.
The Tigers will be a challenge for the Aggies but Robinson is confident that her team can walk away with a win.
“There are no easy Big West games, we know that,” Robinson said. “But we had a lot of success finishing chance against Riverside last week and I think we’re in a good place to grab a win.”
Playing Pacific today also means that UC Davis gets an extra day of rest before playing another conference rival, Cal Poly.
“We get an extra day of rest after Pacific and that will give us a chance to enter that game with fresh legs,” Robinson said.
The Mustangs are currently ranked fourth in conference, a spot that the Aggies are hoping to clinch this season.
“Cal Poly is a good team. They always seem to figure out how to win conference games,” Robinson said. “If we want to make the conference tournament we’re going to have to find a way to beat them.”
This is a huge weekend for the Aggies. These two conference games will have big implications in their conference standing.
“This is one of those big picture weekends. The next two weeks will really start to clear up the final conference standings,” Robinson said.
The Aggies kick off against the Tigers at 3 p.m. on today at Aggie Stadium and the team is hoping to have a large crowd to cheer them to victory.
“We’re up against a good team in Pacific,” Robinson said, “It will be nice to have our fans there to back us up.”
– Kim Carr
