As much as Fresno State would have loved to kick off both the Gabe Bolton and PAC-12 eras with a victory, it simply wasn’t in the cards for the Bulldogs on Wednesday.
The UC Davis back line was too much for Fresno State, defeating Fresno State 2-0 in front of a sizable Red Wave crowd.
“We’re disappointed to lose the game. Obviously, I thought we had some good moments in the game, and unfortunately they had one really great moment in the first half, and in the second half they scored on our inability to kind of clear the ball,” Bolton said postgame. “Davis played very well. They capitalized on their opportunities.”
Despite the loss, the new Bulldog head coach expressed much appreciation for the opportunity and the support he’s received from the school and the community.
“It’s amazing that we get to do this and compete at this level, and we have tremendous gratitude every time we’re able to do that. The environment out here was phenomenal. The staff put in a tremendous amount of work to create a great environment for our team,” Bolton said.
How it happened
The Aggies struck first in the 13th minute with sophomore forward Jaycee DeFazio finding the bottom of the net off the rebound.
Fresno State immediately tried to counter, pushing the ball down the field, with sophomore Abigail Herren taking a shot on goal, only to be knocked away.
The ‘Dogs had multiple opportunities in the 18th and 19th minutes, including one from inside the box by freshman midfielder Mariona Sene Corominas. It was blocked however by Aggies goalkeeper Dina Frenkel.
Bulldog senior transfer Jordan Sprague took a shot on goal with a minute to go in the first half, but Frenkel was right there.
It was more of the same in the second half with Fresno State getting plenty of opportunities but not being able to find the back of the net.
“We just weren’t good enough in the final third. We didn’t create great chances. I think we were just a little bit too much in a rush. We were trying to send every ball over the top. I think we just needed to let the attack marinate a little bit more than what we were doing,” Bolton said.
He went on to use a baseball analogy to indicate their need to focus more on “singles” and working the count or the field for this matter as opposed to swing for the fences.
“We have to be more patient. We were trying to go for the home run every single time, and as a result, we didn’t create the kind of chances that we’re going to need to create to score goals at this level,” Bolton said.
UC Davis sophomore defender Kiley Fehrenbacher powered one past Fresno State goalie in the 57th minute to give the Aggies a 2-0 lead, it was all they needed to seal the win as the defense did the rest of the work.
“At the end of the day, while we didn’t get the result, we know we’re going to grow from this, and we’re going to get better,” Bolton said.
What’s next
The Bulldogs head north this Sunday to Moraga, California to take on the Gaels of St. Mary’s. The match kicks off at 1 p.m.
Fresno State returns home to host Long Beach State next Thursday, August 20 with kickoff at 7 p.m.
Story written by Al Scott, cover photo by Evan Hernandez.