GRESHAM, Ore. — Sierra Pacific Division Champion/No. 1-ranked the University of California-Davis received scoring from seven different players as the defending National Champion Aggies doubled-up New England Division Champion Boston College, 12-6, to earn a spot in the 2018 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship semifinals.
Following previous First (2012, 2013, 2017), Second (2011), Third (2008, 2014, 2016) and Fifth (2009) Place finishes, the Aggies are guaranteed to place notch its eighth Fourth Place or better mark at the 2018 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship courtesy its semifinal berth and will make the program’s third consecutive and eighth overall semifinal appearance at 5:10 p.m Pacific/8;10 p.m. Eastern this evening against the victor of a quarterfinal pitting Big Ten Division Champion/No. 13 The Ohio State University versus Southeast Division Champion/No. 5 the University of Florida.
UC-Davis never trailed against the Eagles as Player of the Game Hailey Jackson (So., San Diego, Calif.) notched a man-up tally nine seconds into the game at 6:51 prior to Sofia Caryotakis (Sr., Portola Valley, Calif.) stroking in an even-strength strike at 5:59 to put the Aggies ahead 2-0.
Heather Clark (Jr., Houston, Texas) responded at 5:04 with a natural goal to pull within 2-1, but back-to-back-to-back markers from Jackson (4:53, even-strength), Julia Kinsolving (Sr., San Anselmo, Calif.) (2:34, even-strength) and Diana Hatamian (Sr., San Jose, Calif.) (1:06, man-up) helped build a 5-1 lead for the defending National Champions.
Annie Ward (Fr., San Rafael, Calif.) trimmed one tally off the Eagles’ deficit prior to the conclusion of the opening quarter as she slipped in a six-on-five opportunity with 41 seconds left on the clock to inch Boston College within 5-2 after seven minutes of competition.
Sarah Al-Mayahi (Fr., Lynnfield, Mass.) closed the gap further less than a minute into the second quarter by finding the back of the cage with a rising shot at 6:05 to make it 5-3. However, Jackson countered at 5:24 to drill home a man-up bid and push the lead back to three at 6-3.
The teams traded man-up goals from there to the halftime horn as Ward (3:10) and Dominique Burciaga (Fr., Santa Maria, Calif.) (1:01) beat their opposing goalies to lock the scoreboard at 7-4 in favor of UC-Davis at the break.
Burciaga’s goal opened the floodgates for the Aggies as Carmen Steinmeier (So., Sunnyvale, Calif.), Hatamian and Kinsolving ticked off three consecutive natural goals at 6:23, 5:48 and 5:13 to begin the third quarter and make it 10-4. Caryotakis capped off a five-goal run by UC-Davis at 3:32 as she lined a five-meter penalty shot into the cage to provide her squad a seven-score lead at 11-4.
Needing some offense to get back into the contest, Ward shrank Boston College’s deficit down to six at 11-5 prior to the conclusion of the third quarter by firing a ball into the mesh at 2:23.
In the fourth quarter, Mallory Phillips (Fr., Mercer Island, Wash.) got on the board for the Aggies by twirling in a tally at 5:44 before Ward closed out the game with a man-up score with 3:34 to go for the 12-6 final score as UC-Davis’ lead proved too much for the Eagles to overcome.
The Aggies received three goals by Jackson along with pairs by Kinsolving, Caryotakis and Hatamian as the quartet combined for nine of their team’s 13 scores. Phillips, Burciaga and Steinmeier each found the back of the cage once.
In cage, Cassidy Crouch (So., Clovis, Calif.) claimed the win with eight saves and four goals allowed prior to Kelley Cartwright (Sr., San Diego, Calif.) coming in to stop one shot. Amanda Bolanos (Sr., Palm Springs, Calif.) suffered the loss for the Eagles with two saves.
Ward keyed the Boston College attack with four goals to accompany single notches by Clark and Al-Mayahi.
The Eagles will attempt to earn a spot in the tournament’s Fifth Place game at 4:00 p.m. Pacific/7:00 p.m. Eastern later today against the fallen from the Ohio State-Florida quarterfinal. In the history of the Eagles’ program, the team is already guaranteed to notch its all-time best finish at the Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship as B.C. previously tied for 13th place with the University of Washington in 2008 at Mt. Hood prior to racking up 15th (at University of Arizona) and 12th (at University of California-Davis) place marks in 2010 and 2012.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| Boston College | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | – | 6 |
| No. 1 University of California-Davis | 5 | 2 | 4 | 1 | – | 12 |
| UC-Davis Goals: | Hailey Jackson (3); Julia Kinsolving (2); Sofia Caryotakis (2); Diana Hatamian (2); Mallory Phillips; Dominique Burciaga; Carmen Steinmeier | |||||
| Boston College Goals: | Annie Ward (4); Heather Clark; Sarah Al-Mayahi | |||||
| Saves: | UC-Davis – Cassidy Crouch (8, 14 minutes), Kelley Cartwright (1, 14 minutes) ; Boston College – Amanda Bolanos (2) | |||||
| Exclusions: | UC-Davis – 6 ; Boston College – 8 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | UC-Davis – 5-for-8 ; Boston College – 3-for-6 | |||||
| Sprints: | UC-Davis – 2-for-4 (3rd, 4th) ; Boston College – 2-for-4 (1st, 2nd) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | None | |||||
| Officials: | Gene Gill, Kacie Bund | |||||
Boston College’s Annie Ward (#5) goes full Jordan in trying to field-block a shot by the University of California-Davis’ Meghan Hall (#12)
University of California-Davis’ Carmen Steinmeier (#4) prepares to shoot as Boston College’s Heather Clark (#4) closes in
Boston College’s Annie Ward (#5) defends against the defensive pressure of the University of California-Davis’ Hailey Jackson (#3)
