Double OT win leads to record-setting day
Ana Marija Sola scored the game-winning goal in Saturday's non-conference match at Aggie Soccer Field, on a penalty kick with 24 seconds remaining in overtime to help the Aggies defeat Saint Mary's, 1-0.
The victory, UC Davis' first in nine head-to-head matches against the Gaels, improves the Aggies' overall record to 7-3-1. Saint Mary's is now 5-4-2.
With Saturday's result, women's soccer set a new Division I record for the most non-conference victories earned in a single season. Six non-conference wins, originally set by the 2011 team, was the previous D-I high until Sola's shot found the back of the net.
By recording her seventh clean sheet of the season, goalkeeper Alexis Smith now sits alongside Kelly Parker and Megan Daws for the most shutouts collected in a single season. Parker set a new program benchmark in 1998, Daws matched her effort in 2006; both recorded that total after competing in a full season's worth of games, Smith still has eight contests remaining -- all against Big West teams.
With defense ruling the day through the regulation and the first two overtime periods, UC Davis finally got its break with time running down in the second extra period. Freshman Crystal Crump drove down the right side, turned a defender, and broke into the box where she was taken down from behind going toward goal, drawing the whistle and awarded the penalty kick with just 24.6 seconds remaining on the clock.
Sola, who already had one game-winning goal to her name this season, quickly added her second, catching the Gaels' goalkeeper guessing the wrong way and calmly placing the attempt to the left side to end the match. Sola now stands tied with teammate Rachel Smith for the team lead in game-winners.
Both teams finished with 12 shots on the day, but it was the Aggies who jumped out quickly, out-shooting Saint Mary's 7-5 in the opening period. Rachel Smith's header just three minutes in just missed the mark high and Crump had a chance snuffed out in the 23rd minute when her one-timer in traffic after a scramble in the box was smothered by Julia McDonald to keep the match scoreless.
On the other end of the field, Alexis Smith was up to the task, turning away three attempts by the Gaels. The first came at point-blank range on a header by Casidee Lynch off a corner just minutes before a crucial kick save on a shot by Hannah Diaz, who got behind the defense and found herself one-on-one by the Aggie keeper.
The third was another well-timed leap as the freshman got enough of her hand on a header by Jaime Turrentine to deflect a shot that was cleared off the line by a defender in the 29th minute.
With the heat bearing down both offenses struggled to find a rhythm, but back-to-back attempts by Haley Hughes and Rachel Smith -- the latter a fingertip save by McDonald that was cleared by a defender -- just six minutes in gave the Aggies early momentum. Alexis Smith made a stop on a rebound attempt by Turrentine in the 56th minute, but that was the last test for either goalkeeper as both defenses settled in for overtime.
Rachel Smith and Turrentine shared match honors with five shots apiece, with Smith putting three of hers on frame. Alexis Smith finished with four saves in the shutout, while McDonald added five in the loss for Saint Mary's.
With its non-conference slate now complete, UC Davis will now look to record its second three-match win streak of the season when Cal Poly visits Aggie Soccer Field in each team's Big West opener. The battle for one of four spots at this year's Big West Women's Soccer Tournament begins Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m.
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