UC Riverside opens home conference play

College Soccer News: Aggies Defeat Highlanders

The UC Davis women’s soccer team continued their 2011 Big West Conference competition with a convincing 4-1 win over UC Riverside on Thursday, October 6. It was the first conference win of the season for the Aggies and spoiled the Highlanders’ Big West home opener. UC Davis is now 1-1-1 in conference and 7-4-1 overall, while UC Riverside is 0-1-0 and 5-6-1.

The Highlanders had an opportunity to open scoring in the 22^nd minute when sophomore Lindsey Ahmed managed a breakaway against the Aggie defense. However, Ahmed was unable to get a clean shot off and Aggies senior goalkeeper Maria Magaña pounced on the ball to keep the game scoreless.

Shortly after the UC Riverside effort, Aggies’ senior Aisha Lott stole a ball just past midfield and took it up the center, firing from about 20 yards out. The ball beat Highlanders redshirt freshman goalie Jessica Olafsen on the left side for the score and a 1-0 lead. UC Davis would add to that with less than three minutes left in the half when freshman Rogan Dolan sent a pass in from the left side to senior Lisa Kemp in the box. Kemp one-timed the ball past Olafsen for a 2-0 halftime lead.

It would be Kemp once again in the 62^nd minute, taking advantage of a Highlanders’ penalty just outside the box. Her free kick ricocheted off the crossbar and barely broke the plane of the goal line for a 3-0 lead and her first double as an Aggie. Making the most of her night, Kemp then added an assist to her totals when her header reached senior Allison Kelly just outside the Riverside box. Kelly’s shot past Olafsen gave the Aggies a comfortable 4-0 lead in the 69^th minute.

Riverside refused to go quietly, however, taking nine of their 15 shots on goal during the second period of play. Finally, with only seconds left on the clock, junior Jessica Cortez and freshman Alexandra Quincy combined to drive the ball into Aggies territory where senior Vanessa Ybarra took over. Receiving the ball in a one-on-one with the defender, Ybarra crossed from left to right, broke free, and fired past Magaña inside the right post just before the final buzzer.

UC Davis is idle until Thursday, October 13, when they host Pacific in an afternoon game, followed by a visit to Cal Poly on Sunday, October 16. UC Riverside hosts Pacific this Sunday, October 9, before traveling to Cal Poly next Thursday and UC Santa Barbara the following Sunday.

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