UC Davis women’s soccer triumphs over Grand Canyon University in 3-0 win

First-year Kaya Herndon netted two goals for the Aggies in their second conference win of the season

By COLINA HARVEY— sports@theaggie.org

On Oct. 7, the UC Davis women’s soccer team faced off against the Grand Canyon University (GCU) Antelopes at home. The Antelopes were no match for the Aggies, who took the lead with an early goal and added two more in the second half. 

After losing the first two Mountain West Conference matches on the road against the Air Force Academy and Colorado College, the Aggies returned home on Oct. 2 to take on the University of Wyoming. It was a tight match, but a goal in the 85th minute by Jaycee DeFazio, a third-year human development major, secured the 3-2 win and gave the Aggies momentum going into their matchup against GCU.

The Antelopes came out strong with a handful of chances to score early in the game. In the fourth minute, GCU’s Amanda Adams made a run up the line and crossed the ball onto the head of Ellie Johannes who put power on the ball, but placed it just too high, sending it over the net. In the 12th minute, GCU’s Sophia Rubano forced Davis goalkeeper Cat Pieper, a fifth-year political science major, to make her first save.

However, it was the Aggies who took the lead early with a goal in the 14th minute from Kaya Herndon, a first-year neurobiology, physiology and behavior major, assisted by Ashley Brewer, a third-year human development major. Brewer found space for a run up the right side of the field and delivered a cross to Herndon, who volleyed it into the bottom left corner of the goal. 

Just prior to the match, Herndon was named Mountain West Freshman of the Week for her performance against the University of Wyoming Cowgirls. After scoring a goal and assisting on winning the game against the Cowgirls, Herndon picked up right where she left off.

For the rest of the half, the game was balanced, featuring end-to-end action. However, neither team was able to find optimal shot opportunities.

The Aggies wasted no time in the second half, netting their second goal in the 46th minute. Lisette Gregoris, a fourth-year human development major, took the ball into the attacking third where she found Lakelee Perkins, a third-year psychology major, completely unmarked. Perkins received the ball right in front of the open goal and placed her shot in the bottom right, bypassing the keeper and putting the Aggies up 2-0.

In the 68th minute, Herndon received a long ball across the field from Chloe Keating, a first-year undeclared major. Herndon controlled the ball in the box and sent it to the far corner, hitting the back of the net and putting the Aggies ahead by three goals.

For the remainder of the match, the Antelopes pushed to score but were shut down by the Aggie defense. Although they were able to get shots off, they were all saved by Pieper, who recorded seven total saves.

“It was great to have these games at home,” Herndon said. “The atmosphere is amazing here. And honestly, we're just getting our confidence with scoring goals. And so when we score three goals at home, we can have more confidence to score away.” 

The Aggies had struggled to score early in the season, scoring the same amount of goals in their first 11 games as they did in the two matches against Wyoming and GCU. 

“Our effort this season has been getting better and better each game, and that's honestly what won it for us,” Herndon said. “A lot of stuff we've been working on in practice is box organization, which I think we did a really good job at that today, but we can keep working on that. And then also just switching the point [of attack] was super successful for us. So if we could keep getting better at that, we’ll be successful.”

The Aggies will be back at home on Oct. 15 to take on the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Written by: Colina Harvey — sports@theaggie.org