Aug. 20, 2009

DAVIS, Calif. - The UC Davis women's soccer team will open its 2009 regular season Sunday afternoon when it hosts Sacramento State. The game will start at 2 p.m. at Aggie Soccer Stadium.

UC Davis went 1-1 in its two exhibitions with a 2-1 victory over Chico State last Sunday following a 1-0 loss to San Francisco on Aug. 13. Lisa Kemp and Aisha Lott each scored goals for the Aggies in Sunday's exhibition victory.

The Aggies return their three top scorers from a year ago as well as their keeper. Senior Marisa Boge led the team in 2008 with four goals and 10 points while senior Rochelle VanBuskirk was second with seven points. Samantha Faber, Jordan Martin, Lisa Kemp and Rachel Kahn also return as part of the top-seven scorers from 2008.

Sarah Peters, a junior, was one of the top keepers in the Big West Conference last year with a 1.12 goals against average. She played every minute in goal for the Aggies and finished with four shutouts and a .744 saves percentage. Peters' efforts helped her gather second-team All-Big West honors.

In all, the Aggies have four returning seniors. Boge and VanBuskirk are joined by Jordan Martin and Britnee Warmerdam. The four Aggies have been fixtures on the field over the past three years and have combined for 201 games played since becoming Aggies.

UC Davis has won the past two meetings in the series. The Aggies posted a 1-0 victory last year behind a second-half goal by Boge. Two years ago, UC Davis won 3-2 in overtime. Boge has scored a goal in each of the Aggies' games against the Hornets dating back to her freshman season in 2006.

UC Davis is coming off a 7-7-3 season last year while Sacramento State posted a 9-8-2 mark. The Hornets tied Cal State Stanislaus, 0-0, and lost to Chico State, 1-0, in preseason exhibitions.

Sunday's game is the first of two straight home games to start the season as the Aggies host Marist on Aug. 30.