PORTLAND, Ore. — UC Davis (2-3-2) wraps up two straight road matches on Thursday against Portland (3-5-0) in a nonconference road match at Merlo Field at the Clive Charles Soccer Complex. The Aggies head to Portland with a three-game unbeaten streak (1-0-2) that is their longest since posting a 5-0-2 record over the final seven games of the 2024 regular season. The current stretch began Aug. 30 with a 1-1 tie at home against UC Santa Barbara before a 1-0 home victory over Pacific (Sept. 6) and a scoreless tie at Loyola Marymount (Sept. 10). Thursday's kickoff for the Aggies and Pilots matchup is slated for 6 p.m. The match will be streamed live on ESPN+ and live stats will be available via Stat Broadcast. Tickets for the matchup between the contest can be purchased online or on gameday at Merlo Field at the Clive Charles Soccer Complex.
Prior to its recent three-game unbeaten streak, the Aggies opened the 2026 season with a 2-0 victory at Fresno State before dropping three straight contests at home against Sacramento State (1-0) and on the road at Saint Mary's (3-0) and Santa Clara (1-0).
Portland has wins in 2026 at Utah Tech (3-0), as well as both of its home matches against Portland State (1-0) and Oregon State (1-0), while the team has lost five of its six road matches included a pair on the road against nationally ranked teams No. 4/12 Washington (1-0) and No. 5/5 Wake Forest (2-0), as well as road contests at Utah State (2-0), Long Beach State (2-1) and Cal State Fullerton (1-0).
"Our goal when building our schedule was to play a challenging nonconference schedule to prepare us for the Mountain West," head coach Kat Mertz said. "Playing another talented West Coast Conference team on the road is a huge test for us. Portland is well coached and tough to beat at home, but I'm looking forward to our players competing and rising to the occasion."
UC Davis will return home to Aggie Soccer Field for Youth and Special Olympics Day in its final regular-season nonconference match of the campaign against Idaho on Sunday, Sept. 20 (1 pm PT).
Single-game tickets for all UC Davis home matches including the next home contest against Idaho 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. 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 DAVIS AT PORTLAND - THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 (6 PM PT)
FOLLOW
NOTES
UC DAVIS-PORTLAND SERIES
2026 SEASON
- DEFENSIVE PROWESS: UC Davis ranks third in the Mountain West in both goals allowed per game and goals against average (0.86). The Aggies' three shutouts are fifth.
- FEHRENBACHER FIRST MOUNTAIN WEST DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: F Kiley Fehrenbacher became the first UC Davis player to earn Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors when she was named on Sept. 14 for her performance in a scoreless tie at LMU four days earlier. Fehrenbacher was one of five UC Davis players, along with goalkeeper Cat Peiper and fellow defenders Sydnie Fong, Ava Peterson and Courtney Wagner, to play all 90 minutes in the contest.
- GOALKEEPER TRIO: UC Davis is one of only two of the nation's teams that has had three different goalkeepers record solo shutouts. Dina Frenkel started the first three matches and had a shutout in the season-opener at Fresno State (Aug. 12), Piper Wilkison started the next three matches and blanked Pacific (Sept. 6) in her third start and Cat Pieper recorded her solo shutout in a scoreless tie at LMU (Sept. 10) in her first action of the season in the Aggies' most recent outing. Pieper has an 0.00 GAA and four saves in 90 minutes, while Wilkison has an 0.67 GAA and seven saves, and Frenkel a 1.33 GAA and 11 saves, both in 270 minutes.
- OFFENSIVE TEAM LEADERS: F Ashley Brewer and F Jaycee DeFazio are the Aggies' co-leaders in points after seven matches, moving into that position when Brewer tallied a pair of points on her first UC Davis goal and the game-winner that was assisted on by DeFazio and D Courtney Wagner in a 1-0 win over Pacific on Sept. 6. Brewer and DeFazio both have three points on the season with DeFazio previously recording a goal and Brewer an assist in a season-opening win at Fresno State when DeFazio rebounded Brewer's shot off the post and put it into the back of the net. D Kiley Fehrenbacher and F Lakelee Perkins also each have a goal for two points, while Wagner has a team-high two assists for two points and M Payton Henry has one assist for one point. Wagner also has a team-high 10 shots and shares the team lead with three shots on goal along with Perkins and F Lisette Gregoris. Brewer (Pacific) and DeFazio (at Fresno State) have each been credited with one game-winning goal.
- LOTS OF PLAYERS SEEING ACTION AND MAKING STARTS: UC Davis has played 25 of the 28 players on its roster in at least one match over the first seven contests, while 18 different players have started at least one match with 16 of those making at least three starts. Four players - D Kiley Fehrenbacher, D Sydnie Fong, F Lakelee Perkins and D Courtney Wagner - have started all seven contests.
- ROSTER MAKEUP AND NEWCOMERS IMPACT: 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 Sydnie Fong (San Diego/Nevada), GK Dina Frenkel (Purdue), D Stella Villalta (Santa Clara) and GK Piper Wilkison (Butler). UC Davis has had 11 newcomers see the field with the six first-year transfers joined by five true freshmen in M Payton Henry, F Presley Henry, M Kaya Herndon, F Chloe Keating and D Samantha Murdin. The newcomers have played in a combined 60 games and made 33 starts.
- FEHRENBACHER STREAK: D Kiley Fehrenbacher has started all 26 UC Davis matches played in 2025 (19) and 2026 (7) since transferring from Oregon prior to the 2025 campaign.
- SUNDAY SPECIAL: UC Davis plays a total of six regular-season home games in 2026. The Aggies have hosted night games against Sacramento State (Aug. 16), UC Santa Barbara (Aug. 30) and Pacific (Sept. 6), while they have three remaining Sunday home matches scheduled against Idaho (Sept. 20), Hawai'i (Oct. 18) and UTEP (Nov. 1, Senior Day). Each of the remaining three home matches is scheduled to kick off at 1 p.m.
- CAPTAINS: The team captains are M Savannah Cordero, M Ashleigh Garcia and D Livi Lewis.
- 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: UC Davis is a member of the Mountain West Conference 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 Thursday, Sept. 24 (5 pm PT), while UC Davis will host Wyoming in its first-ever home Mountain West match on Friday, Oct. 2 (6 pm PT).
- MOUNTAIN WEST POLL: UC Davis was selected to finish eighth in the Mountain West in the league's preseason poll.
- HEAD COACH KAT MERTZ: Kat 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 with the Aggies for a second season, while Travis Clarke is in his first campaign with UC Davis. Clarke has 14 seasons 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
MATCH 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 and the season 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.
MATCH 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 match while trailing 1-0 but two shots both 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 contest'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.
MATCH 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. The Gaels' first-half goals by Zoe Maikai (12:49) and Ashlyn Vaughn (31:17) were both unassisted, while Lexi Chatterton fed Brooke Fairbanks for Saint Mary's third and final tally (79:15). UC Davis had a limited number of scoring 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.
MATCH 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 at Santa Clara. 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 match's lone goal in the ninth minute on assists from Adee Goulden and Addie Whitehouse. UC Davis GK Piper Wilkison had four saves in her Aggies' debut including a spectacular one in the 49th minute to keep UC Davis within a goal.
MATCH 5 - AT UC DAVIS 1, UC SANTA BARBARA 1 - AUGUST 30, 2026
UC Davis dominated much of a 1-1 tie with UC Santa Barbara. The Aggies gave up a goal to the Gauchos' Delilah Vega-Agular on an assist from Chayse Yu in the opening minute of the contest before F Lakelee Perkins scored the equalizer on arguably the Aggies' prettiest goal of the season when she headed in a corner kick from D Courtney Wagner in the 22nd minute. Despite getting off another 10 shots, including three more on goal, the Aggies could not add the game-winner. Both teams had shots go off the top of the crossbar in the second half from Aggies' M Kaya Herndon in the 60th minute and the Gauchos' Isabella Ong with just 53 ticks remaining on the clock. The Aggies finished with advantages of 14-6 in shots and 5-2 in shots on goal, as well as 3-0 in corner kicks.
MATCH 6 - AT UC DAVIS 1, PACIFIC 0 - SEPTEMBER 6, 2026
F Ashley Brewer's first UC Davis goal was also the lone score of the match in the Aggies' 1-0 victory over Pacific. Brewer curled her game-winner from near the top of the penalty box just inside the right goalpost and out of the reach of Tigers' GK Ava Wells. The goal came near the end of the first half in the 37th minute and was assisted by D Courtney Wagner and F Jaycee DeFazio. All three players started their collegiate careers at Cal Poly before transferring to UC Davis. Both teams got up their share of shots with UC Davis outshooting Pacific, 12-9, but there were not many other scoring chances for either team although each side did have one shot off the top post early in the contest with Pacific's Janelli Villagran in the ninth minute followed by UC Davis F Lakelee Perkins in the 14th. UC Davis won the shots on goal battle, 4-2. GK Piper Wilkison picked up her first collegiate victory and solo shutout. She finished with two saves.
MATCH 7 - UC DAVIS 0, AT LMU 0 - SEPTEMBER 10, 2026
UC Davis extended its unbeaten streak to three in a row with its first scoreless tie of the season at LMU. GK Cat Pieper recorded the fifth solo shutout of her career in her first action in goal for the Aggies this season and had strong support from a backline of D Kiley Fehrenbacher, D Sydnie Fong, D Ava Peterson and D Courtney Wagner with Peterson making her first career start for and all four defenders joined Pieper in playing a full 90 minutes. UC Davis looked to score in the 18th minute but an apparent goal by F Lakelee Perkins was overturned after video review due to an offside penalty. Fong (8th minute) and M Payton Henry (48th) each had a single shot on goal for the Aggies.
POSITION GROUPS
FORWARDS
The Aggies have used all seven forwards on their roster and members of the position group have scored three of the team's four goals and accounted for two of five assists. Ashley Brewer scored the team's most recent goal in a 1-0 win over Pacific (Sept. 6) and with the goal and an assist in the season opener at Fresno State is tied with Jaycee DeFazio (1 goal vs. Fresno State, 1 assist vs. Pacific) for the team's point lead with three. Lakelee Perkins is the only forward and one of only four players overall to start all seven games and had arguably the team's most beautiful goal, as well as her first goal of 2026 and second in her career, with a header off a corner kick by D Courtney Wagner in a 1-1 tie with UC Santa Barbara. First-year Cal Poly transfers DeFazio and Brewer have started six and three games, respectively, while Lisette Gregoris has started five. McKayla Farrell and Presley Henry have each played in all seven contests off the bench, while Chloe Keating has played in six also all off the bench. Perkins and Gregoris are among three players tied for the team lead with three shots on goal.
MIDFIELDERS
UC Davis has started five different players in the midfield with none starting all seven contests. The five starts by Stella Villalta and Savannah Cordero are the most in the position group, while Sydney Bushman has started four times and Payton Henry and Kara Herndon three times each. Henry's assist on the Aggies' second goal against Fresno State accounts for the lone point from the group and one of five Aggies' assists this season. Bushman leads the group with seven shots, while Herndon is second with six. Both have a position group-high-tying two shots on goal, while Cordero has four shot attempts including a memorable one that banged off the right post in the 84th minute against Sacramento State to just miss tying the contest.
DEFENDERS
Kiley Fehrenbacher, Sydnie Fong and Courtney Wagner have each started all seven contests, while Summer Humphreys has been in the starting lineup four times and Livi Lewis three. Fehrenbacher has one of the team's four goals when she converted after a scramble on a corner kick and an assist from M Payton Henry in the season-opening win at Fresno State, while Wagner has team highs of two assists and 10 shots, as well as a team-high-tying three shots on goal.
GOALKEEPERS
(see 2026 season notes)
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.
