Box Score April 3, 2016 Final Stats
DAVIS, Calif. - Freshman Taylor Cuenin scored four goals while senior Ellie Delich had a hat trick and an assist to lead UC Davis to a 13-6 win over Denver in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation women's lacrosse action at Aggie Stadium Sunday afternoon.
The Aggies even their record to 4-4 overall and 2-1 in conference play. The Pioneers slip to 4-7 for the year and 1-3 in MPSF games.
Sunday's win is just the fourth by UC Davis in the 21-game series history between the two teams. The last Aggie win was a 16-14 upset in the 2009 MPSF tournament, a contest that followed an 18-5 Pioneer drubbing during the regular-season matchup. The Aggies' seven goal winning margin is also the largest in series history; all previous wins were settled by one or two goals.
Senior Courtney Neff added two goals and an assist, while sophomore Kelsey DeJesus chipped in a goal and assist late in the second half. Freshman Shannon Cross and sophomore Shannon Geary contributed two assists each. Defensively, Cuenin notched two of her team's 10 caused turnovers and led all players with five ground balls. Senior Mary Doyle tallied a team-leading five draw controls. Goalie Lauren Ali followed her career-high game on Friday with six saves on Sunday.
For Denver, sophomore attacker and recent returnee Nicole Martindale posted three goals with four draw controls. Freshman Elizabeth Behrins added two goals and an assist.
Neff and Delich each scored two goals in a run of six unanswered Aggie goals to start the game. DU finally got on the board with Martindale's eight-meter conversion, then Behrins added another goal in the final minute before halftime. UC Davis led by a 6-2 margin at the break.
The Pioneers cut the lead to three on two occasions in the second stanza. Martindale scored the first goal of the half to bring the score to 6-3. After the Aggies extended their advantage to 8-3 by the 45th minute, Behrins scored on her own and assisted Martindale to cut the lead back to three. However, UC Davis exploded for five goals in the final seven minutes. Cuenin scored back-to-back within a span of 15 seconds, while Geary fed DeJesus and senior Sam Axenroth for goals in the 58th and 59th minutes.
UC Davis outshot its guest by a 24-19 margin, won more ground balls (22-16) and draw controls (13-9), and committed few turnovers (17-15). Denver also shot just .316 for the contest (6-for-19), a season low for Aggie opponents.
The Aggies return to action for a Wednesday twilight conference game against California. First draw is 5 p.m.
| Denver (4-7, 1-3) | 2 | 4 | - | 6 |
| UC Davis (4-4, 2-1) | 6 | 7 | - | 13 |
GOALS - DU: Nicole Martindale 3, Elizabeth Behrins 2, Sarah Kasun 1. UC DAVIS: Taylor Cuenin 4, Ellie Delich 3, Courtney Neff 2, Kelsey DeJesus 1, Mary Doyle 1, Sam Axenroth 1, Melissa Kellan 1.
ASSISTS - DU: Elizabeth Behrins 1, Christa Reese 1. UC DAVIS: Shannon Cross 2, Shannon Geary 2, Kelsey DeJesus 1, Ellie Delich 1, Kate Fellner 1, Courtney Neff 1.
GOALIE SAVES - DU: Maddy Stevenson 6 (60:00). UC DAVIS: Lauren Ali 6 (60:00).
