DAVIS, Calif. — Kaya Herndon's penalty kick at the 84:06 mark decided a wild Mountain West game on Senior Day at Aggie Soccer Field by giving UC Davis (6-9-3, 4-4-1 MW) a 3-2 victory over UTEP (8-7-3, 2-7-0 MW). The Aggies scored three second-half goals in the victory after trailing 1-0 at the intermission with Courtney Wagner also converting a penalty kick at the 47:25 mark and Ashley Brewer scoring on an assist from Herndon at 55:33.
Macey Williams scored the only goal of the first half with an unassisted tally to give the Miners their 1-0 halftime lead and UTEP's other goal came just after the break when Ashlyn Neireiter answered Warner's penalty kick with one her own less than four minutes later at 51:05.
"I'm really proud of our team today," head coach Kat Mertz said. "This was a great team effort in our last home game on Senior Day. It was great to honor our nine seniors. I'm really proud that we fought back and were resilient. We talked about it at halftime that whatever it may be - a shootout, whatever it is, we fight until the end."
"The seniors have put so much into our program and we really wanted to win for them," Herndon said. "There are a lot of them that are hurt or can't play, but they're still such a big part of the team and them cheering us on from the sideline just makes us want to win even more. I'm really happy that we got that win and kept working hard.
UC Davis held sizable advantages in every team statistical category, including advantages of 19-7 in shots and 10-4 in shots on goal. The Aggies also registered 11 corner kicks, while the Miners had four. The game had 32 fouls (UTEP 19, UCD 13), three penalty kick goals and a yellow card on Kiley Fehrenbacher of UC Davis at the 51:05 mark that set up Neireiter's penalty kick.
Savannah Finley had seven saves for UTEP, while Cat Pieper picked up two for the Aggies.
UC Davis will finish its 2026 regular season with a Mountain West match at Nevada (4-13-1, 1-7-1 MW) on Saturday, Nov. 7against UTEP on Sunday. The match will begin at 2 p.m. and be streamed live on MW+.
MATCH NOTES
- UC Davis finished its home schedule with a 5-3-1 record at Aggie Soccer Field including 4-1 marks in Mountain West play and its final five home contests.
- UC Davis' three goals tied a season high as the Aggies reached that number for the third time after also scoring three against Wyoming and Grand Canyon. It marked the first time since that the Aggies scored three goals in a half since also scoring three in the second half in a 4-3 win over LSU on Sept. 15, 2024.
- D Kiley Fehrenbacher, F Lakelee Perkins, D Courtney Wagner and D Sydnie Fong were among the starters and each have now started all 18 of the Aggies' matches.
- D Kiley Fehrenbacher extended her consecutive matches started streak to 37, including all UC Davis matches possible in the last two seasons with 19 in 2025 and the first 18 in 2026.
- UC Davis has doubled its win total from 2025 with six and has exceeded its goal total from a year ago by seven with 18 through 18 games after picking up 11 in 19 contests a year ago.
- M Kaya Herndon now leads with 14 points, six goals and three game-winning goals, while her two assists and 12 shots on goal are tied for the team lead and her 25 shots rank second.
- UC Davis had just one penalty kick in its first 17 matches prior to its two against UTEP.
ABOUT UC DAVIS ATHLETICS
UC Davis Athletics represents one of the nation's premier public universities on the NCAA Division I stage, with more than 650 student-athletes competing across 25 sports, including 16 programs in the Mountain West Conference. Located in California's quintessential college town, UC Davis combines championship-level athletics with the academic excellence of the nation's No. 8 public research university and is home to the nation's No. 1 programs in agriculture, veterinary medicine and sustainability. With a growing national media presence, bold investments in facilities and the student-athlete experience, and a tradition of developing champions in competition, in the classroom and beyond, the Aggies are elevating UC Davis on a national stage.
For more information, visit ucdavisaggies.com.
