DAVIS, Calif. – Four Anteaters notched hat-tricks to guide No 7/7 UC Irvine to a 17-13 victory over No. 17/17 UC Davis Saturday afternoon.
 
Libby Alexander and Brooke Hourigan led the goal scoring effort with four goals apiece while Lauren Hett and Nioka Thomas put away three each.
 
Both Hett and Hourigan contributed five points as Hett dished two assists and Hourigan giving a pass on a score.
 
UCI improved to 14-10 overall and 5-1 in the Big West, tied with No. 6 Long Beach State for second in the league standings.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Kennedy East deposited two goals and Gracie Helberg added one
• Helberg tied Hett for the team-high in assists (2)
• Ella Walker recorded two saves and Rachel Kirchner blocked four shots
• Madi O'Hara alongside Hourigan drew three exclusions each
• East tallied two takeaways, a team-best
• The Aggies converted on six powerplays (6-16) while the Anteaters could only do it five times (5-13)
• No. 17/17 UC Davis was led by Kelly Hungerford's seven points with five goals and two assists

 
SCORING BREAKDOWN

• First period: No. 17/17 UC Davis opened the contest with two goals in less than a minute off Anteater miscues until Brooke Hourigan dished the ball over to Libby Alexander (6:28) to get on the board. The Aggies followed with two more scores in short amount of time before No. 7/7 UC Irvine made it a one-score game again with Alexander (4:44) hitting the back of the cage and Lauren Hett (4:07) converting on the five-meter down 4-3. UCD added one more before Nioka Thomas (3:09, 1:29, 0:52) went on a 3-1 run on her own to get UCI back into the contest, tying the game at 6-all.
  • Thomas (3), Alexander (2), and Hett (1)
• Second period: The Aggies posted the opening score at 6:41 and then built a wo-goal edge with a score at 5:40 while up a player. Hett dished over to Kennedy East (5:17) for a power play score before UCD went back up by two goals at 4:04. Three straight scores by UCI, the last by Hourigan with 51 seconds left, put the Anteaters up 10-9, but UC Davis was able to draw an exclusion and score at the 22 second mark to keep it even, 10-10, going into the break.
  • Alexander (1), East (1), Hett (1), and Hourigan (1)
• Third period: For the third straight stanza, UC Davis got on the board first, but they had to work for it as the ball didn't hit the back of the cage at 5:14. Alexander found the net at 3:03 to even it back up, 11-11, then two more unanswered from the Anteaters as Hourigan (2:07) converted the five-meter and East (0:31) denting the twine gave UCI the 13-11 advantage.
  • Alexander (1), East (1), and Hourigan (1)
• Fourth period: The 'Eaters continued their scoring run as UCI stripped the UCD player and got the ball to Hett at 7:38 for the score then the Aggies stopped the run with as they converted while holding the one player advantage. Following that, Hourigan (4:55, 3:35) went back-to-back, giving the Anteaters the four-goal ledge and Gracie Helberg followed that up with 41 seconds left in the contest for the 17-13 win.
  • Hourigan (2), Helberg (1), and Hett (1)

 
UP NEXT
UCI closes out the road portion of the schedule with a meeting in Berkeley against No. 5/5 Cal for a 1 p.m. start on Sunday (Apr. 13).