Sept. 30, 2009

DAVIS, Calif. - The UC Davis women's soccer team will conclude its non-conference schedule and begin Big West Conference play this week when it resumes action. The Aggies host Saint Mary's Friday afternoon at 4 p.m. at Aggie Soccer Stadium before heading south to face Long Beach State in Sunday's Big West opener. UC Davis (5-2-1) continues to be one of the highest scoring teams in the nation.

The Aggies are coming off a 2-1 victory over Nevada Sunday at home. Rochelle VanBuskirk scored both goals to raise her season total to nine. The Aggie senior is ranked second in the nation with 2.75 points per game. She has amassed nine goals, four assists and 22 points on the year. VanBuskirk has scored two goals in four separate games and is third in the nation in goals per game.

As a team, the Aggies lead the Big West in winning percentage (.688). They are two wins shy of equaling last year's total of seven. The squad's 22 total goals are already more than all of 2008. UC Davis leads the Big West in every major offensive category and is 21st in the nation with 2.75 goals per game.

Saint Mary's enters the week 6-5 and faces Fresno State Wednesday to end an eight-game homestand. Most recently, the Gaels were defeated by top-ranked Stanford, 1-0, on Sunday. That loss followed consecutive wins against Nevada and UNLV.

Long Beach State faces Pacific Thursday afternoon before hosting the Aggies Sunday at 1 p.m. at George Allen Field. The 49ers are currently 4-5 with three of their losses coming against top-25 teams. Long Beach State won last year's Big West regular season title by going 7-0-1.