The Aggies lose 0-1 against University of Hawai’i’s Rainbow Wahine
By MIKALA SLOTNICK— sports@theaggie.org
In the final home game of the season on Oct. 23, the UC Davis women’s soccer team hosted the Hawai’i Rainbow Wahine, losing 1-0. The evening held additional significance, as the team’s Coach Kat Mertz was honored before the match for her courageous battle with breast cancer. During the ceremony, Mertz was given a jersey; she spoke about her battle with breast cancer and her commitment to spreading awareness. In Soccer Coach Weekly, Mertz discussed how important it was to educate young women in college about early detection of breast cancer.
“One in six women [in their 40s] will be affected by breast cancer,” Mertz said in the Soccer Coach Weekly interview. “If you’re coaching a college team, with 27 to 30 young women, I think it’s important to talk about early detection.”
Mertz was hired in January of 2025 and served as the fifth head coach in Davis’ women’s soccer program. She was also the head coach for the University of Oregon for seven seasons and helped transform the program at University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
On the field, the Aggies’ determination was high at the start of the match, but Hawaii struck early at the 8:13 minute mark of the first half with a goal from Nalani Damacion, assisted by Amber Gilbert. The Aggies remained determined throughout, but were unable to complete a goal due to Hawaii’s goalkeeper, Kennedy Justin, making multiple saves. This is not the first time Hawaii has scored first throughout the season — their sixth time doing so.
Throughout the match, UC Davis had multiple chances to even the score. One of the clearest opportunities to tie the score came from third-year political science major Sydney Bushman’s free-kick in the 30th minute. Though the goal was possible, it hit the crossbar and Davis lost the opportunity to find its equalizer. This season, Bushman has had a total of eight shots on goal and scored two goals for Davis.
The Aggies challenged Hawaii’s goal keeper as third-year sociology major Karla Sandoval, second-year political science major Summer Humphreys and first-year human development major Bailey Rakela all had shots on goal, which were unfortunately saved by Justin once again.
UC Davis goalkeeper, third-year political science major, Cat Pieper recorded four saves, all in the second half, to keep the Aggies in reach of a potential victory. Pieper performed key saves in the 57th and 86th minute, and UC Davis’ backline denied a shot in the 72nd minute to keep the game at 1-0. With 65 total saves this season, Pieper ranks second in the Big West in total saves, starting in all 17 matches this season. As a team, UC Davis ranks third in the Big West in saves per game.
The Aggies finished the match with nine shots, four of them on goal. Though Hawaii outshot the Aggies overall, Davis outshot the Rainbow Wahine in the second half with a score of 5-4. Despite the one shot on goal, Pieper saved multiple shots from Hawaii players Krista Peterson, Izzy Ayala and Damacion.
UC Davis’ record after the game is 2-12-4 overall; 0-8-1 in conference play. This is UC Davis’ final season in the Big West, as they will be joining the Mountain West in 2026.
Despite mixed results, the Aggies ended their season with a win against UC Riverside (UCR) on Oct. 30. Fifth-year neurobiology, physiology and behavior major Genavieve Fontes lobbed the ball over both the goalie and UCR defense, hitting the back of the net. The team will now move to off-season training and prepare for their next season.
Written by: Mikala Slotnick — sports@theaggie.org
