BERKELEY, Calif. – UC Davis opened the 2023 season and saw the beginning of the Kandace Waldthaler era at the Cal Cup on Saturday. The Aggies suffered a heart-breaking 14-12 defeat to No. 9 Fresno State before dropping the afternoon contest to No. 3 UCLA.

UC Davis held a 10-9 lead heading into the fourth quarter of the first match, but the Bulldogs scored five goals in the final period to swipe the victory. UCLA put together a solid all-around performance to down the Aggies in their second game of the day. The Bruins out-scored UC Davis in each quarter to cruise to victory.

Noëlle Wijnbelt enjoyed a fantastic start to her season with a pair of hat tricks, leading the Aggies with six total goals on the day. Gianna Nocetti and Alyssa Lengtat also notched hat tricks in the match against Fresno State. Nocetti tacked on one more goal in the afternoon contest against UCLA while Lengtat dished out three assists in her excellent performance in the first game of the day.

Sophia Noble tallied 10 saves in the season opener and four more against UCLA.

Fresno State 14, UC Davis 12
The Aggies began the 2023 campaign with a flying start, opening up a 4-0 lead behind Wijnbelt's lively start to the contest that saw two goals from the four-time All-American. Nocetti and Lengtat also got in on the action with goals of their own to give UC Davis a commanding lead in the first quarter.

The Bulldogs pulled one goal back, but Tess Fundter tallied one more goal in the dying seconds of the period to give the Aggies a 5-1 lead.
Keeping Fresno State in check for the first half action was Noble, who was brilliant in goal, making seven saves and two steals to keep the opposing attack at bay. The Bulldogs registered four goals in the second quarter to make it a two-goal deficit (7-5) before halftime.

Fresno State carried that momentum into the second half as they rallied for three straight goals to take its first lead of the game. Nocetti's third goal evened things up at 8-8 before Hailey Williams added another goal to restore the Aggies' advantage.

The Bulldogs struck first in the fourth to even the contest, but Wijnbelt immediately replied with her third score to put her team out in front once again. The two teams would trade goals before Fresno State made converted twice to make the score 14-12 with 1:33 remaining, snatching the victory after out-scoring the Aggies 5-2 in the fourth quarter

UCLA 21, UC Davis 7
Wijnbelt netted the first goal of the game, however, the Bruins answered with five unanswered goals to jump out to a 5-1 lead in the first quarter. Hailey Williams scored early in the second quarter, but UCLA continued to show its dominance and took a 9-2 lead into the break.

Sam Yoo converted a penalty and Wijnbelt scored yet again but the Bruins recorded seven goals to pull away in the second half. Nocetti, Wijnbelt, and Madison Sparre scored in the fourth quarter as the Aggies battled back. UCLA held their lead and pulled out the 21-7 win to close out the first day of the Cal Cup.

Up Next
UC Davis searches for its first win tomorrow with matches against San Jose State and Cal. The meeting with the Spartans is set to begin at 9:45 a.m. while the contest against the hosts is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.