DAVIS, Calif. — UC Davis (1-3-0) returns home for the first time in two weeks to host UC Santa Barbara (3-1-0) in a nonconference match at Aggie Soccer Field this Sunday, August 30. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. The match will be streamed live on MW+ and live stats will be available via Stat Broadcast. Tickets for the UC Davis-UC Santa Barbara matchup can be purchased online or on gameday at Aggie Soccer Field.
UC Davis opened the 2026 season with a 2-0 victory at Fresno State but has dropped its last three matches at home to Sacramento State (1-0) before road losses at Saint Mary's (3-0) and Santa Clara (1-0) in its last two contests.
"I was proud of our effort tonight," head coach Kat Mertz said after the one-goal loss at Santa Clara. "I thought we battled hard, executed the game plan and created some solid scoring chances. "I'm looking forward to watching us play on Sunday night,""
Santa Clara was a 2-0 winner at San Jose State in its season opener before three consecutive 1-1 ties in home matches against California, Oregon and Pitt. Thursday's match against UC Davis will be the Broncos' fourth in a seven-match homestand.
Single-game tickets for all UC Davis home games including Sunday night's game against UC Santa Barbara are $10 for Youth (3-13 years old) and $13 for general admission. Flexbooks - packs of 10 tickets redeemable in any combination - are $85. Discounted group tickets are available for groups of 10 or more. For additional information or to purchase tickets, visit ucdavisaggies.evenue.net, contact the Aggie Ticket Office at (530) 752-2471 or email aggietickets@ucdavis.edu.
Event parking will be honored in Lot 25 and the Pavilion Parking Structure for all home games through Sept. 11. The cost for weekday games is $5.50, while weekends are free but both require parking permits. There is construction work in the area and fans should follow posted signage around the Pavilion Parking Structure, Lot 25 and Aggie Soccer Field to enter the venue.
UC SANTA BARBARA AT UC DAVIS - AUGUST 30, 2026\
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NOTES
UC DAVIS-UC SANTA BARBARA SERIES
- UC Santa Barbara leads the all-time series, 12-10-2.
- The teams tied 1-1 the most recent time they played on Sept. 25, 2025, at UC Davis. Sophia Moness scored on a penalty kick at 72:18 for the lone UCSB goal before UC Davis answered with a Sydney Bushman goal with assists from Kylee Redman and Ava Cloverdale at the 86:27 mark.
- UC Santa Barbara's last victory was a wild 3-2 double overtime win in a Big West Championship semifinal contest in Honolulu on Nov. 7, 2024.
- The Aggies are 1-0-1 in the last two games between the teams played in Davis with the most recent UC Santa Barbara victory in Davis a 1-0 overtime decision on Sept. 30, 2021. Since then, the Aggies scored a 1-0 win in 2023 before last year's 1-1 tie.
- The longest win and unbeaten streaks for both teams is four with UCSB doing it twice (1983-89, 2016-19) to sandwich a four-game win and unbeaten streak for the Aggies from 2010-13. The Gauchos also had a four-game unbeaten streak (3-0-1, 2006-09).
- The teams have played in every season other than the 2020 COVID year since 2004.
- The Aggies were a 3-0 winner in Santa Barbara the first time the team ever played on Oct. 7, 1983. The first dual in Davis came four seasons later on Sept. 11, 1989, and the Aggies were also a winner, 4-0.
2026 SEASON
- TWO WEEKS AWAY FROM HOME: By the time UC Davis starts Sunday night's match with UC Santa Barbara it will have been two weeks since the last time they hosted a contest at Aggie Soccer Field. The two weeks between home contests equals the longest of the season for the Aggies, who will also be away from home between matches on Sept. 6 and 20 and then again on Oct. 18 and Nov. 1. plays on the road for the third time in its first four matches of 2026 on Thursday at Santa Clara as part of a 10-game road slate. The Aggies are 1-1 on the road this season with a 2-0 victory at Fresno State in their season-opener on Aug. 12 followed by a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Saint Mary's eight days later. The loss ended the Aggies' two-match road win streak dating back to a 1-0 victory at UC Riverside in their final road game last season on Oct. 30, 2025.
- ROSTER MAKEUP: The 28-player roster is a nearly equal mix of returnees (15) and newcomers (13), including six first-year transfers in F Ashley Brewer (Cal Poly), F Jaycee DeFazio (Cal Poly), D Sydney Fong (San Diego/Nevada), GK Dina Frenkel (Purdue), D Stella Villalta (Santa Clara) and GK Piper Wilkison (Butler).
- LOTS OF PLAYERS SEEING ACTION: A total of 22 of the 28 players on the roster have played at least once in the first four contests.
- STARTERS: UC Davis has had 15 players make starts over its first four matches including five that have started all four contests in M Savannah Cordero, D Kiley Fehrenbacher, D Sydnie Fong, F Lakelee Perkins and D Courtney Wagner. Six others (F Ashley Brewer, F Jaycee DeFazio, GK Dina Frenkel, M Payton Henry, D Livi Lewis, D Stella Villalta) have started three matches each. F Lisette Gregoris and D Summer Humphreys have started twice each, while M Sydney Bushman and GK Piper Wilkison made their first starts of the season on Thursday against Santa Clara.
- OFF THE BENCH: Seven others who have played exclusively off the bench include F McKayla Farrell, M Charlotte Henness, F Presley Henry, M Kaya Herndon, F Chloe Keating, D Ava Peterson and M Karla Sandoval.
- NEWCOMERS IMPACT: UC Davis has had 10 newcomers see the field, including six first-year transfers (F Ashley Brewer, F Jaycee DeFazio, D Sydnie Fong, GK Dina Frenkel, D Stella Villalta, GK Piper Wilkison) and four true freshmen (M Payton Henry, F Presley Henry, F/M Kaya Herndon, F Chloe Keating). The newcomers have combined for 20 starts with four from Fong, three each from Brewer. DeFazio, Frenkel, Peyton Henry and Villalta, and one from Wilkison.
- FEHRENBACHER STREAK: D Kiley Fehrenbacher has started all 23 matches possible since transferring from Oregon prior to the 2025 campaign.
- CAPTAINS: The team captains are M Savannah Cordero, M Ashleigh Garcia and D Livi Lewis.
- MOUNTAIN WEST: UC Davis is playing as a member of the Mountain West for the first season after most recently being part of the Big West in 2025. The Aggies' first Mountain West match is scheduled to be played at Air Force on Sept. 24, while UC Davis will host Wyoming in its first home conference match.
- PRESEASON WATCH LIST: Three Aggies - F Ashley Brewer, M Savannah Cordero and D Courtney Wagner - were named to the preseason Mountain West women's soccer watch list.
- MOUNTAIN WEST POLL: UC Davis was selected to finish eighth in the Mountain West in the league's preseason poll.
- HEAD COACH KAT MERTZ: Mertz is in her second season at the helm of the Aggies' and 20th campaign as a head coach with previous stops at UNLV (2005-09), St. Louis (2012), Oregon (2013-19) and MSU Denver (2020-24) before taking over at UC Davis in 2025. She has also been an assistant coach at Virginia (1999), UCLA (2000-04) and Texas (2010-11). In addition, Mertz has held various roles with the U.S. Women's National Team and Olympic Development Program.
- ASSISTANT COACHES: Aggie assistant coaches Emilee Tominovich and Abbie Faingold are back for a second season, while Travis Clarke is in his first. Clarke has 14 campaigns of experience as a collegiate head coach with stints at Hawai'i-Hilo (2006-08), Cal State San Bernardino (2009-13) and Saint Mary's (2014-19).
MATCH RECAPS
GAME 1 - UC DAVIS 2, AT FRESNO STATE 0 - AUGUST 12, 2026
Cal extended its unbeaten string in season openers to seven (6-0-1) with a 2-0 win at Fresno State. F Jaycee DeFazio and F Ashley Brewer, both first-year transfers from Cal Poly, accounted for Cal's first goal of the match when DeFazio rebounded Brewer's shot off the post and placed it into the back of the net. Brewer was credited with an assist on the play. UC Davis' second goal came on a corner kick when M Payton Henry came out of a pile with the ball and fed D KIley Fehrenbacher for a goal. GK Dina Frenkel played all 90 minutes in goal and recorded a shutout. The August 12 date was the earliest in the calendar year the Aggies have ever opened a campaign and the first day of the 2026 season for collegiate women's soccer across the nation.
GAME 2 - SACRAMENTO STATE 1, AT UC DAVIS 0 - AUGUST 16, 2026
UC Davis took Causeway rival Sacramento State down to the wire before falling, 1-0, in its home opener. The Aggies had a pair of scoring chances to tie the game while trailing 1-0 but a pair of shots in the 84th minute from M Savannah Cordero and F Ashley Brewer were off the right post and just left of the goal, respectively. The teams were scoreless into the 74th minute before Sacramento State M Ellie Farber tallied the game's only goal when she converted a penalty kick into the lower right section of the net after she was fouled by Aggies' M Stella Villalta in the penalty box.
GAME 3 - AT SAINT MARY'S 3, UC DAVIS 0 - AUGUST 20, 2026
Saint Mary's scored twice in the first half before adding another goal late in the second in a 3-0 victory over UC Davis In a nonconference match. The Gaels' first-half goals by Zoe Maikai (12:49) and Ashlyn Vaughn (31:17) were both unassisted. Lexi Chatterton fed Brooke Fairbanks for Saint Mary's third and final tally (79:15). UC Davis had a limited number of chances with five shots (one each by five different players) and two on goal from M Presley Henry and D Stella Villalta. Both of the Aggies' shots on goal were saved by Saint Mary's goalkeeper Soraya Souvanaphong en route to a solo shutout. Souvanaphong and Aggies' keeper Dina Frenkel (3 GA, 4 SV) both played all 90 minutes in goal.
GAME 4 - AT SANTA CLARA 1, UC DAVIS 0 - AUGUST 27, 2026
UC Davis knocked on the doorstep in the final seconds before dropping a 1-0 decision in a nonconference match at Santa Clara at Stevens Stadium-Buck Shaw Field. The Aggies drew a foul just outside the penalty box on their final possession but Sydney Bushman's free kick failed to reach the goal and the Broncos escaped with a one-goal win. Santa Clara's Lexie Douglass had the game's lone goal in the ninth minute on assists from Adee Goulden and Addie Whitehouse. UC Davis goalkeeper Piper Wilkison had four saves in her Aggies' debut including a spectacular one in the 49th minute to keep UC Davis within a goal. Wilkison is a first-year transfer from Butler.
POSITION GROUP NOTES
FORWARDS (7)
The Aggies have used all seven forwards on their roster. Lakelee Perkins has started all four games, while Ashley Brewer and Jaycee DeFazio have each been in the starting lineup three times. Lisette Gregoris has been in the starting lineup twice. Each of the starters has seen action in all four games as have McKayla Farrell and Presley Henry off the bench. Chloe Keating has played in three contests. DeFazio has the lone goal from the position group with the game-winner against Fresno State, while Brewer was credited with an assist on DeFazio's goal. Perkins and Gregoris are among four players tied for the team lead with a pair of shots on goal.
MIDFIELDERS (10)
Savannah Cordero is the only midfielder to start in each of the first four matches, while Payton Henry and Stella Villalta have each started three times and Sydney Bushman once. Each of the four players with starts and Karla Sandoval have played in all four contests, while Kaya Herndon has appeared in each of the last three and Charlotte Henness each of the last two. Henry's assist on the Aggies' second goal against Fresno State accounts for the lone point from the group and one of two Aggies' assists this season. Cordero leads the group with four shot attempts including one that banged off the right post in the 84th minute against Sacramento State to just miss tying the contest. Bushman's two shots on goal are the most in the group and tie for the team lead.
DEFENDERS (8)
Kiley Fehrenbacher, Sydnie Fong and Courtney Wagner have each started all three contests, while Livi Lewis started each of the first three and Summer Humphreys each of the last two while playing in all four along with the four-game starters.. Fehrenbacher has one of the team's two goals after converting after a scramble on a corner kick, while Wagner has a team-high five shots and a team-high-tying two shots on goal.
GOALKEEPERS (3)
First-year Purdue transfer Dina Frenkel played all 270 minutes in goal over the first three matches and allowed four goals before Piper Wilkison went the distance in the most recent game against Santa Clara. Frenkel has a 1.33 goals against average and 11 saves while facing 34 shots. She spent her first two collegiate seasons with the Boilermakers' in 2024 and 2025 but did not see any game action. Wilkison allowed a single goal and had four saves against the Broncos in her UC Davis after playing in four contests as a true freshman at Butler in 2025. Cat Pieper started all 19 games for the Aggies in goal in 2025 but has yet to play this season.
ABOUT UC DAVIS ATHLETICS
UC Davis, ranked No. 2 among public universities by the Wall Street Journal in the value of a college degree, is home to 40,000 undergraduate students and 12,000 employees. Ranked top in the United States in agriculture and forestry as well as No. 1 in veterinary medicine, UC Davis is located in a true California college town nestled between world-class destinations such as the San Francisco Bay Area, Napa Valley and Lake Tahoe. Over 650 Aggie student-athletes compete in 25 Division I varsity sports, with 16 sports transitioning to the Mountain West Conference beginning in 2026-27.
For more information, visit ucdavisaggies.com.
