LA JOLLA, Calif. – UC Davis suffered a heart-breaking defeat to UC San Diego in the opening round of the Triton Invite. The Tritons mustered a feverous comeback in the second half, rallying from a four-goal deficit to eventually earn the 8-7 win.

#12 UC Davis (1-4) led 5-2 after the first half but #18 UC San Diego (4-5) out-scored the Aggies 6-2 over the final two periods to snatch the victory.

The Aggies held a 29-26 advantage in the shot column and posted 13 steals while the Tritons recorded six. The hosts were clinical in their power-play chances, converting four of their eight opportunities while UC Davis was just 1-of-4.

Alyssa Lengtat registered a hat trick and two assists in a fantastic performance from the graduate student. She now leads the Aggies with 15 total points.

Noëlle Wijnbelt enjoyed another multi-goal game, her fourth of the season, scoring twice on the afternoon. Ashley Salem and Kelly Hungerford etched their names on the scoresheet while Sophia Noble was solid in the cage, making nine saves including an important penalty stop.

How It Happened
The Aggies quickly made their presence felt, scoring less than a minute into the contest when Lengtat set up Wijbelt for the first goal of the game. The Tritons leveled the game at 1-1 but UC Davis would answer on the power play, this time Lengtat doing the scoring.

The hosts were awarded a penalty shot just under the three-minute mark in the first period, but Noble came up with a huge stop to preserve the lead for her squad. The Aggies took advantage of the momentum when Salem found the back of the cage after a nice find from Polterock.

Wijnbelt tallied her second goal on yet another assist from Lengtat as UC Davis struck first in the second quarter. The Aggies made it four unanswered goals when Hungerford cashed in, making the score 5-1. UC San Diego nicked one last goal before the halftime whistle, but the Aggies retained a 5-2 lead at the break.

The Tritons regrouped and replied with four consecutive goals in the third quarter to tie things up at 5-5, however, Lengtat fired two goals in the final 15 seconds of the period to give her team the lead going into the last eight minutes.

UC San Diego would not go away, scoring twice to knot it up at 7-7 early in the fourth quarter following a power-play goal and successful five-meter attempt. Sofia Munatones gave the Tritons their first lead with 3:18 remaining, converting another power play opportunity.

In the dying minutes, Sam Yoo had an effort that struck the bar, but that was as close as the Aggies would be to finding an equalizer as UC San Diego escaped with the 8-7 victory.

Up Next
UC Davis will face CSUN tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. to continue the Triton Invite. The Aggies' second opponent will be determined following the result of that contest.