After a disappointing couple of losses to Santa Rosa in the previous weekend, the Aggies looked to rebound in their last home game of the season against Santa Clara last Friday night. The late night contest between the Aggies and the Broncos would be the fourth matchup between the teams this season, with the Broncos winning every game thus far.
WIth that in mind, the game started off at a slow pace, with the Broncos taking an early 1-0 lead off of a quick deflection. Neither side had a great advantage starting off the game, but the Broncos outpaces the Aggies in shots, and eventually scored another tip-in goal to make it 2-0. The Aggies wouldn't have a response until late in the period when Gunther Schuler finally put the Aggies on the board to make it 2-1.
The second period would be the opposite: the Aggies would steal all of the momentum. With multiple power play opportunities combined with an anemic Santa Clara offense, the Aggies would heavily outshoot the Broncos, scoring twice to gain the lead over the Broncos who managed only 3 shots the whole period.
After the ice cut, however, the Broncos struck back with a breakaway goal to make it 3-3. The game held at a firm tie for most of the game, with strong defensive plays both ways limiting the chances. That all changed when SCU took a four minute penalty with less than five minutes remaining; on the ensuing power play, the Aggies would regain the lead with a goal by Kaz Machida to make it 4-3. Santa Clara would pull their goaltender, but Kaz Machida would score yet again on a cleared puck that ended up in the empty net. UC Davis would win 5-3.
It was a great win for their Aggies who played their last home game of the season. It was also the first win for the Aggies over Santa Clara this season.
This coming weekend, the Aggies will finish off the season with a road trip to Portland, taking on Portland State University with back-to-back games on the Valentine's Day weekend.