DAVIS, Calif. — UC Davis senior
Sorana Larson celebrated "Senior Night" with five first-half goals to complete the 11th 50-goal season in the history of the program, while a stout Aggie defense limited visiting California to just four goals and 12 shots on goal, completing a three-game season sweep of the Golden Bears with a 14-4 victory on Thursday night at UC Davis Health Stadium.
The Aggies improved to 10-4 overall on the season and have won the last four consecutive meetings with their Bay Area rivals dating back to last season. UC Davis' 10 wins are the most under head coach
Suzanne Isidor and the most for the program since the 2011 squad finished 10-5 overall.
California fell to 2-14 overall on the year with the loss.
One of the nation's top scoring threats, Larson's five-goal game was her fifth of at least five goals this season and her team-best 10th hat trick of the season — the most since
Taylor Cuenin finished with 10 in 2019. Larson's 51 goals in 2021 rank tied for seventh on the program's single-season list alongside Jaime Fitzpatrick's 2003 total, while her 65 points this year are just five shy of the single-season top 10.
Sophomore
Alex Agnew finished with her sixth hat trick of the season, while
Maddie Myers also added a pair.
Anna Hofgard, Kendall Seiert, and
Brooke Long, also added scores, as did senior defender
Anna Belenis, who scored her first career goal on an 8-meter attempt in the second half.
Defensively, the four goals allowed are the fewest since a 12-4 victory at William & Mary on March 31, 2018, as UC Davis forced the Golden Bears into 17 turnovers on the night, including three caused by Larson (who also added five ground balls) and two more by
Annie Dalton.
Sophomore
Ashley Laing made her third consecutive start in net and finished with four saves in the first half, before senior
Taylor Mathieson took over and stopped four second-half shots.
Back-to-back goals by Myers and Larson got the scoring started, and the Aggies rattled off three straight goals — two of those off the stick of Larson — following a Cal score for a 5-1 lead. Nikki Zaccaro pulled one back for the Golden Bears, but that would be it for the first half for the visiting side as Hofgard scored and Larson added two more in the final 67 seconds for an 8-2 lead at the break.
Long, Seifert, and Agnew, then started the second half with goals to make it a 6-0 run for UC Davis, while Belenis netted her first career score at the six-minute mark in between Cal scored to make it 12-4. Myers and Agnew then scored 90 seconds apart to keep the clock running en route to the final 14-4 advantage.
UC Davis finished with a 37-20 shot advantage, including a 24-12 lead in shots on goal, while holding a 14-6 advantage in draw controls, eight of those by
Kate Graham. Graham's draw total gave her 75 for the year, which vaulted her into third on the school's single-season list past Myers (69 in 2019),
Mar Alvear (70 in 2019), and Elizabeth Landry (72 in 2012).
The Aggies close out the regular season on the road on Saturday (April 24), traveling to the Central Valley to take on Fresno State in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation contest at 2 p.m. UC Davis will be the league's No. 1 seed and advance to the MPSF title game for the third consecutive year with a win or by staying within seven goals of the Bulldogs.
The MPSF tournament begins on April 30 with the semifinals at 2 p.m. between the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds, with the championship game contested on Saturday (May 1) at 2 p.m.
ABOUT UC DAVIS
Centrally located between San Francisco and Lake Tahoe, over 700 student-athletes across 25 teams enjoy an unrivaled undergraduate experience at the fifth-ranked public school in the country.
Ranked annually in the nation's top 10 in diversity and students' social mobility, UC Davis and its innovative Aggie EVO System helps student-athletes develop passions, connect with a comprehensive network of alums and industry leaders, gain real-world experience and thrive as a young professional following a successful launch to full-time employment or graduate school.
