STANFORD, Calif. — UC Davis junior midfield
Mar Alvear finished with a career-high four goals and added an assist for a five-point day, while senior attack
Sorana Larson added a first-half hat trick to go with an assist, but host and No. 24-ranked Stanford used a 5-1 run after halftime to break open a two-goal game en route to a 18-10 victory on Saturday afternoon at Cagan Stadium.
UC Davis fell to 1-2 overall on the season, as freshman
Alex Agnew posted her first collegiate points with a pair of goals and an assist, while freshman
Mia Lawrence added another score.
Senior
Maddie Myers and senior
Kate Graham also added assists to wrap up the scoring for the Aggies, who put 17 of their 21 shots on goal for the day.
The Cardinal, led by five goals apiece from Mikaela Watson and Katherine Gjertsen, improved to 2-2 overall, winning their second straight.
Alvear's career-high goal total — three via a second-half hat trick — established a new high-bar total for the Oakland, Calif., native, surpassing her previous best of three set at Fresno State as a freshman in 2018 and matched with a hat trick against UMass-Lowell last season. She now has six goals for the season, matching her teammate Larson for second on the team.
Speaking of Larson, the Ellicott City, Md., native's hat trick — her fourth, fifth, and sixth, goals of the year — came within a three-minute span of the first half, helping spark an Aggie offense that fell behind by a 6-1 count in the early going. Lawrence, the two-time reigning Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Rookie of the Week, got the comeback started with her second of the year before Larson went off, scoring twice within 30 seconds and adding another with 7:56 remaining to make it 6-4.
Stanford added another on Jay Browne's seventh of the season to inch away, but Alvear pulled the goal back with her third of the season with 22 seconds left in the half.
From there, the Cardinal took control as Gjertsen scored twice in 90 seconds to increase their lead to 10-6 and, after Agnew's second goal of the day, Jacie Lemos and Gjertsen scored back-to-back goals to push the Stanford lead to 13-7 and it never looked back.
Alvear added her fifth of the year to complete the hat trick at the 7:20 mark and added her team-best fourth of the game at the 3:58 mark to bring the Aggies into double digits for the second time this season.
Junior goalkeeper
Taylor Mathieson finished with seven stops and led her side with four ground balls on the day, while Graham added a team-best four draw controls.
UC Davis returns to the field on Sunday (March 1) at Noon, as they wrap-up a run of four consecutive Pac-12 opponents to start the year with a contest at Oregon.
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 Times Higher Education, and among the top 15 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
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.
MARYA WELCH INITIATIVE
Named after the former physical education instructor, coach and Dean of Women who founded women's sports on the campus 25 years before the passage of Title IX, the Marya Welch Initiative for Women's Athletics provides comprehensive support for UC Davis' 16 women's athletics programs. Through the support of the Marya Welch Initiative and its group members, student-athletes are provided the best possible opportunity to succeed inside the classroom, and in competition, through special project gifts and by increasing visibility and participation at women's events throughout the year. All gifts to the Marya Welch Initiative are matched 1:1, doubling the impact on our women's programs. Visit https://give.ucdavis.edu/ATHG/324041 for more information.
