HONOLULU — Sophomore human development major Alicia Sloss and sophomore international relations major Mahlah Catline each found the back of the net in a wild, high-scoring second half, but the Aggies' rally came up just short as host Hawai'i held on for a, 3-2, Big West Conference victory over UC Davis on Sunday evening at the Waipi'o Peninsula Soccer Stadium.

Closing out a three-match road swing, the Aggies fell to 4-7-2 overall and 1-2 in league play despite scoring multiple goals for the second straight match and the fourth time overall this season. The Rainbow Wahine improved to 7-5-1 overall and evened their Big West mark at 2-2, putting 12 of their 15 shots on frame for the match.

Senior materials science and engineering major Alexis Smith finished with a season-high nine saves, surpassing her previous best of seven set at California on Sept. 14 and tied at Saint Mary's on Sept. 22, making six of those nine in the first half alone — including four stops in the first 17 minutes of the match — to keep Hawai'i off the board in a scoreless opening 45 minutes.

However, the Rainbow Wahine wasted no time in breaking up the shutout in the second half as Raisa Strom-Okimoto scored twice in the first 10 minutes — including her first of the night just 92 seconds into the period — to stake the home team to a 2-0 lead.

Sloss then pulled back a goal in the 67th minute to make it a one-goal contest with her team-best fourth of the year, taking a shot that was turned away by Hawai'i keeper Alexis Mata, but she was unable to corral the rebound, which Sloss put home to make it 2-1.

Just a minute later, the Rainbow Wahine answered with their third goal of the night as a corner by Strom-Okimoto was converted by teammate Leialoha Medeiros, who finished a shot in the box for a 3-1 advantage.

The Aggies remained resilient as Catline pulled her side back to within a goal with her second of the year, knocking a shot off the crossbar and in from 30 yards out to make it 3-2 with 15 minutes remaining in regulation.

However, that's as close as UC Davis would get as Smith turned away two more scoring attempts by Hawai'i in the final five minutes before the horn sounded.

For the first time in over a month, the Aggies will finally get the chance to play in front of the hometown crowd with a pair of matches this week, hosting defending Big West Tournament champion Cal State Fullerton on Thursday (Oct. 11) at 4 p.m., before welcoming reigning league regular season champ UC Irvine on Sunday (Oct. 14) at 2 p.m.

DON'T MISS OUT!
The ninth-annual UC Davis Athletics Brewfest takes place as part of the October 13 Homecoming football game against Idaho State... Tickets for the Brewfest plus the Aggies-Bengals game are now on sale at https://bit.ly/2ooveDI... The Brewfest celebrates UC Davis as the No. 1 academic brewing program in North America... The ticket package includes unlimited tastings at the UC Davis Brewfest, a commemorative tasting mug, and a ticket to the game.

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Launched in 2017-18, the Aggie EVO System is UC Davis Athletics' investment in the primary mission of preparing student-athletes for a successful "launch" after graduation. Thanks to a collaboration of alumni, university resources, corporate partners, coaches and Student-Athlete Outcomes staff, all Aggies are guided over four years to acquire the skills, knowledge, opportunities and tools to better know and navigate the "World of Work" after graduating from UC Davis. Follow the Aggie EVO system on Twitter and Instagram at @AggieEVO.