Teams: UC Davis vs. Denver
Records: Aggies 5-7 (2-2); Pioneers 9-1 (3-0)
Where: Aggie Stadium
When: Sunday at 1 p.m.
Who to watch: Junior Elizabeth Datino is coming off a solid week of play in which she accumulated five goals and four assists. She had two goals and two assists against California and followed that performance with three goals and two assists against Oregon.
Did you know? In their previous meeting against Denver last year, the Aggies came back from an 8-4 deficit to tie the game at 13 apiece. The Pioneers were eventually able to take the game in the overtime session by outscoring UC Davis 2-to-1.
Preview: Almost exactly a year ago, the UC Davis Lacrosse team, with a 10-2 record (2-1 in conference), were set to play the 3-10 Denver Pioneers. On paper, the Aggies should have easily defeated their Mountain Pacific Sports Association rivals, but the game went into overtime where the Aggies eventually lost by a final score of 15-14.
This year the two squads enter the matchup in the opposite situation, as Denver hasn’t lost a game since dropping its first game of the year. Meanwhile, the Aggies have fallen to a record of 5-7 after two tough losses to California and Oregon.
Almost exactly a year later, UC Davis will look to capitalize on its chance to upset the favorite when the Denver Pioneers come to Aggie Stadium on Sunday to kick off a four-game home stand for the Aggies.
“Denver is always a good team,” Coach Elaine Jones said.
Coming off two games where they have allowed opponents to go on runs of six unanswered goals and 6-1, the Aggies are looking for a more consistent performance this week.
“We have to keep our composure and stick to our game plan,” Jones said.
The Aggies will have more time to practice and be prepared for opponents like Denver with no need to travel. When asked what the team needed to work on during this week in practice, Jones said, “We need to improve our defense and work on certain situations.”
Jason Min can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.
