IRVINE, Calif. — Ahead by two goals with less than two minutes to go, No. 9 UC Irvine (14-7, 3-1) rallied to force overtime, where they pulled off the upset over No. 7 UC Davis (15-8, 3-1) with a final minute goal in the second overtime period.
A game of runs, the Anteaters rattled off three of the first four goals of the game to take a 3-1 lead in the early going. The Aggies regrouped and responded with three unanswered goals to take their first lead of the game early in the second quarter.
UC Davis continued to build up their lead, developing a three goal, 8-5, advantage after an early third period goal.
UC Irvine immediately responded, barraging the Aggie defense with three goals to bring the score back even. The stalemate didn't hold long, and the Aggies tacked on three straight to lead 11-8 early in the fourth.
UC Irvine then put away two goals, but Logan Anderson broke up the momentum with a strike to put the visitors ahead by two with under two minutes to play in the fourth.
UC Irvine stayed with it, and tied the game with just over thirty seconds to play in the game, forcing an overtime period.
Deadlock remained through the entirety of the first overtime and much of the second, until the Anteaters' Jack Stevens put in his third of the day to take a 13-12 lead with a minute left.
UC Davis had a powerplay opportunity to extend the game, but a strong defensive possession from UC Irvine forced a miss.
Tyler Mrkaich led the Aggies in scoring, finishing the game with four goals and an assist, while Holden Neach had a hat trick.
The loss puts the Aggies into a three-way tie for the top seed in the Big West standings, but the Anteaters will hold the tiebreaker over UC Davis and UC San Diego (13-11, 2-1). The Aggies can clinch a top two seed with a win over San Diego next weekend.
