The UC Irvine Women’s Soccer team (3-3-4, 6-7-5) fell to Big West opponent UC Davis Aggies (6-2-2, 10-6-2) 0-1 at Anteater Stadium on Thursday, Oct. 26.
In what was the final game of the regular season and likely UC Irvine’s last home game, the Anteaters were unable to defeat UC Davis, as it has been the case for the last four years.
In the first half of the game, both sides put together defensive plays that resulted in the Aggies taking five shots to the Anteaters’ four. The Aggies also had two saves, while the Anteaters only had one.
Early in the second half, UC Davis sophomore defender Livi Lewis received a yellow card following a disagreement with a referee regarding an out-of-bounds call.
However, shortly after, UC Davis junior forward and midfielder Sam Tristan scored the lone goal of the game and her sixth goal of the season. Tristan was assisted by senior midfielder Leslie Fregoso, who got the ball to fall inside the right post of the goal.
Following the goal, the Anteaters had many opportunities to tie the game up, having a two to nothing corner kick advantage in the second half.
“I think we had a lot of heart [in the game], we were pushing a lot in the first half,” said fifth year senior midfielder Gianna Creighton.
The Anteaters exited Thursday with the completion of a season which saw the largest number of losses recorded since 2019.
Despite the loss, the Anteaters earned 13 points through Big West action, and are headed to the Big West postseason tournament as the fifth seed.
The Anteaters have a tough road ahead of them following last season, in which the Anteaters made it to the Sweet Sixteen of the Division 1 Women’s Soccer Tournament.
To continue their quest towards another Division 1 Sweet Sixteen appearance, the Anteaters will take on California State University, Long Beach on Sunday, Oct. 29 in Long Beach, Calif. as the nightcap of a two-game Big West first round matchday.
This Big West first round matchup will also serve as a Black and Blue Rivalry game providing three points to the winner. Currently, Long Beach State is ahead 6-0, following victories in Men’s Water Polo and Women’s Volleyball.
The Anteaters and Beach tied 1-1 in their only game this regular season on Wednesday, Sep. 13 at Long Beach State.
“[It is] time for us to reset, we haven’t scored a goal in a while,” said Creighton. “The standard is to win the [Big West] tournament, [we] made the Division 1 tournament two years in a row.”
Jack Fedor is a Sports Intern for the fall 2023 quarter. He can be reached at jfedor@uci.edu.
