DAVIS, Calif. -- Getting her team geared up for Saturday's game against San Diego State will carry little difficulty for UC Davis head women's lacrosse coach Suzanne Isidor. For starters, this is the annual Senior Day game, dedicated to the team's six graduates-to-be. It falls on the 105th installment of Picnic Day, the university's massive open house, which means upwards of 125,000 people will converge on a city roughly half that size.
And, of course, San Diego State enters the game as the defending Mountain Pacific Sports Federation champion, having nipped the Aggies in overtime during last year's title game. A win over the Aztecs would lock up the top seed and first-round bye at the MPSF tournament, which UC Davis hosts two weekends later.
Who: San Diego State at UC Davis
When: Saturday, April 13 • 1 p.m.
Where: Aggie Stadium (Davis, Calf.)
Live Stats: http://statb.us/b/247504
Live Video: https://www.facebook.com/aggielax/
No, getting her players up for the contest will not be an issue for Isidor. The true objective, she says, is harnessing this energy. "Channeling the emotions of Senior Day, Picnic Day and a conference game will be key for us," she said. "I've said before that between San Diego, Fresno and us, it doesn't matter who is home or who is away, or what happened in the last game. It will be a great game no matter what, and both teams will bring it. It really will be who shows up to play."
In that aforementioned last game, the Aggies experienced the way a single game can vary. Fresno State jumped out to five unanswered and crafted a 6-1 lead before UC Davis responded with a 12-0 run. Isidor said her team did not make any major mistakes in falling into the early deficit, but rather that the Bulldogs just came out firing. "We weren't making huge mistakes but our attention to detail wasn't great," she said. "We weren't finishing our shots or we were fouling on defense. Nothing major, just little things, and Fresno capitalized on all of them. I give them credit."
Ultimately, the Aggies seemed to demonstrate all of their strengths down the stretch of the win. The rock-solid defensive crew of Anna Belenis, Ally Deremer, Addie Dearden and Natalie Garces held Fresno State to 0-for-15 shooting during that comeback run. Goalkeeper Taylor Mathieson posted eight of her 12 saves in the shutout stretch, which later earned her MPSF Defensive Player of the Week honors. UC Davis showed off balanced scoring, with Taylor Cuenin (4), Maddie Myers (4), Amanda Outcalt (3), Shannon Cross (2), Mar Alvear (2) and Natalie Wilson (2) providing multiple goals. Myers and fellow middie Kate Graham helped the Aggies dominate the draw by a 19-11 margin.
"Once we got momentum, we never let go of it, and it was a great thing to watch," Isidor said.
Continuing that momentum into Saturday would also provide a proper tribute to the Aggies' six seniors: Cuenin, Cross, Garces, goalkeeper Grace Richards, defender Sami Herrick and goalkeeper Ashley Lotoszynski. Cuenin rates as one of the most decorated players in program history, with three All-MPSF awards to her name plus the 2018 conference Player of the Year award. The NPB major leads the team with 41 goals, one off her career high, and enough to put her fourth on the school's career scoring list.
Richards joined Cuenin on the All-MPSF rolls last year and won her fourth MPSF Defensive Player of the Week back on February 11. She had 67 saves in the first nine games of 2019, but a concussion sustained in the March 16 matchup with Radford sidelined her during the team's more recent spring break trip to her home area. Cross has started all 61 games since her arrival to the program. She netted a career-best 32 scores as a sophomore, while capturing her first MPSF Offensive Player of the Week nod during the same week as Richards' fourth.
Another 2018 All-MPSF honoree, Garces has started all 46 games during the past three years, posting 72 ground balls and 36 caused turnovers in that span. Herrick, a fellow defender and fellow San Diegan, has appeared in 20 games as a reserve since returning from a season-long injury. She had arguably her best game against one of UC Davis' toughest opponents in program history: two ground balls and a steal against then-No. 8/6 USC back in 2017.
Lotoszynski has perhaps the most unusual path to Saturday's Senior Day ceremony. The agricultural and environmental education major had started four years for the UC Davis softball team, earning Big West All-Freshman and All-Big West honorable mention. She was working for the athletics department as a student assistant on the events staff when she found herself in a conversation with Coach Isidor, not long after Mathieson had suffered a preseason injury. With the Aggie lacrosse team down to one goalkeeper (Richards), Lotoszynski offered her services as a backup – despite never having played the sport before – until such time Mathieson was healthy enough to return.
"This is a class I wish I could have had for more than two years, but I've been lucky to have these two years," said Isidor. "It has been fun watching them grow just in this one season. They are good leaders and good role models for the younger players."
Fortunately, this particular Senior Day does not mean the last home game for the class. UC Davis hosts the MPSF tournament on April 26 and 28, with Saturday's contest largely determining the seeds among the three-team league. Game time is 1 p.m. Links to live coverage are above.
QUICK STICKS:
SENIOR DAY... PICNIC DAY... AND GIVE DAY: The 105th Picnic Day weekend also brings the third-annual UC Davis Give Day campaign, during which all faculty, staff, alumni, parents, students and friends of the university participate in an online fundraising campaign from noon Friday to 5 p.m. Saturday... Within athletics, each Aggie varsity team has its own campaign, as does Team Aggie, sports medicine, the Marya Welch Initiative, strength & conditioning, and Aggie EVO... Fans may contribute specifically to women's lacrosse by visiting giveday.ucdavis.edu/giving-day/12421/department/14742.
MPSF CHAMPIONSHIP: UC Davis will host the conference tournament as the defending regular-season champ... The three-team tourney takes place on April 26 and 28... The top seed earns a bye into Sunday's final (1 p.m.) while the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds face off in Friday's 5 p.m. semifinal... Tickets will be available on the UC Davis Ticket Office website (http://tickets.ucdavis.edu).
REWRITING THE BOOKS: With her fourth four-goal game of the year, senior Taylor Cuenin raised her career goals total to 144, ahead of Gina Hoffmire (143, 2008-11) for fourth... Junior Amanda Outcalt now has 34 assists for the year and 61 for her career, putting her second and seventh on those respective lists... She only needs one to tie Allison Stonebarger (1998-2000) for sixth on the Aggie career leaderboard... Junior Kate Graham's eight draw controls at Fresno State raised her season total to 75, vaulting her ahead of Elizabeth Landry (2012) for second... UC Davis' season top-five list is highly subject to change: entering this weekend, it consists of Landry (90), Graham (76), Landry (75), Maddie Myers (60 in 2019), and Landry (59); with Mar Alvear tied for sixth with 58.
ABOUT UC DAVIS: Providing a small-town community feel while providing a world-class academic experience, UC Davis is home to more than 37,000 students and centrally located between San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, and the Napa Valley. The No. 5-ranked public university in the nation according to the Wall Street Journal, and among the top 10 public universities nationwide according to U.S. News and World Report, UC Davis offers nearly 100 graduate programs and more than 100 academic majors across four colleges and six professional schools, ranking among the world and nation's best in numerous disciplines, including veterinary science, agriculture, and plant and animal programs.
AGGIE EVO: Established 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.
