DAVIS, Calif. -- UC Davis junior midfielder Alex Agnew finished with four goals and four assists, while freshman Grace Gebhardt shined in her Division I debut, adding three more scores and three assists, helping power the Aggies to a 16-13 win over rival San Diego State on Sunday afternoon in the season opener for both teams at UC Davis Health Stadium.

Agnew tied her career high in goals originally set against Georgetown on March 9, 2020, and set a new high bar for assists, finishing with a career-high eight points on the day. Gebhardt, meanwhile, started her career strong with her six points and eight draw controls, joining teammates Mia Lawrence and fellow freshman Natalie Markman with hat tricks on the day.

Kendall Seifert added a pair of goals, while freshman Ella Brislin collected her first career score to cap the scoring for UC Davis.

Defensively, goalkeeper Ashley Laing finished with a career-high 16 saves in net, surpassing her previous best of 15 at Oregon on April 17 of last season, while also grabbing a pair of ground balls. Ally Deremer led the way for the Aggies with four ground balls

The two former Mountain Pacific Sports Federation rivals went toe-to-toe in the first quarter as Agnew and Markman scored four minutes apart to stake UC Davis to the early lead. The Aztecs answered with three straight goals to take their first lead of the match, but Seifert and Lawrence answered in the final two minutes -- the latter scoring the go-ahead go with 26 seconds remining for a 4-3 lead after one.

Brislin opened the second quarter scoring as the two teams traded goals, eventually ending up tied at six apiece with 7:14 remaining in the opening half. That's when Gebhardt stepped in with her first career score, giving the Aggies a lead they would not relinquish.

Gebhardt followed with her second a minute later and Agnew completed her hat trick with a third at the 5:28 mark off a feed from Gebhardt for a three-goal advantage. 

San Diego State pulled one back, but Gebhardt wrapped up her first career hat trick with a score with 64 seconds remaining as the Aggies went into the locker room up 10-7 at the break.

The Aztecs opened the second half with back-to-back scores off the sick of Julia Lytle to make it a one-goal contest, but Markman's second of the day off a free position attempt sparked a 5-0 run by the Aggies, who pulled away and never looked back. 

San Diego State made it interesting in the fourth, scoring four of the final five goals in the match, but UC Davis was too far gone, running out the clock to preserve the victory.

The Aggies out-shot the Aztecs, 36-34, for the day, including 13 shots in the second and 10 more in the third allowing them to pull away.

UC Davis returns to the field on Feb. 26, opening a run of three straight matches away from home at California. Opening draw is scheduled for 2 p.m. in Berkeley, Calif.
 

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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.