The UC Davis women’s soccer team kicked off Big West conference play with two games on the road this weekend. The Aggies took down UC Santa Barbara in overtime, but could not pull out a victory over Cal Poly and split the weekend matchups.
Friday — UC Davis 2, UC Santa Barbara 1 (OT)
The Aggies headed down to Santa Barbara on Friday and managed to earn a 2-1 OT victory against the Gauchos.
The first half was scoreless but it was certainly not due to a lack of action. UC Davis tallied 13 attempts on the goal during the first half but the offense was unable to find the back of the net until the 76th minute when senior Allison Kelly booted one in for a goal.
UC Santa Barbara struck back 10 minutes later when sophomore goalkeeper Taylor Jern was unable to block a header shot by Gaucho sophomore Madison Beckley. Junior Hannah Hicks took another shot on the goal during regulation but was unable to get past UCSB’s goalkeeper.
The Aggie offense continued to attack during the extra frame and eventually freshman Sienna Drizin was able to send one past the Gaucho goalie for the game winner at the 98-minute mark.
Head coach MaryClaire Robinson was happy with her team’s performance during Friday’s game. She praised their youth and their continued determination to improve the offensive attack.
“We’re young and we’ve got a lot of spunk,” Robinson said. “We’ve also got a lot of fresh faces in new roles this year which is something refreshing.”
Sunday — UC Davis 0, Cal Poly 1
The win over UCSB moved UC Davis to 6-4-1 overall with a 1-0 conference record. They traveled to Cal Poly on Sunday to face their conference rival Mustangs.
Cal Poly’s offense struck first when the Mustang’s lead scorer, Elise Krieghoff, managed to put one past Jern during the 12th minute.
Jern and the Aggie defense managed to prevent Cal Poly from earning more goals but UC Davis’ offense was unable to even the score.
The Mustangs held a 14-7 shot advantage during the match and Cal Poly’s defense managed to hold off UC Davis’ late offensive rally to give the Aggies their first conference loss of the season.
Despite the loss, Robinson remains encouraged about the trajectory of her team.
“Our legs were a little heavy from Friday night but we rallied late … we’re on the right path.”
The Aggies have one more road match to complete before they can return to Aggie Soccer Field to enjoy home field advantage. UC Davis holds a 6-5-1 overall record and is 1-1 in the Big West.
The Aggies will head down to Stockton on Friday to face off against another conference rival, Pacific.
KIM CARR can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.
