Oct. 3, 2007

Final Stats

DAVIS, Calif. - Sophomore Paul Marcoux notched his fifth goal of the season and junior Dylan Curtis scored his first to lead UC Davis to a 2-1 come-from-behind victory over UC Riverside in a Big West men's soccer game at Aggie Soccer Stadium Wednesday afternoon.

The victory marks the first official Big West win for UC Davis in any sport. It also improves the Aggies' overall record to 6-2-1 and evens their conference mark at 1-1. The Highlanders fall to 3-3-2 on the season and 0-1 in conference.

"I think it's great that we can represent UC Davis like this," said men's coach Dwayne Shaffer on becoming the first Aggie team to win an official Big West game. "To win a game in a tough conference like the Big West is just an outstanding accomplishment. "

UC Riverside opened the game with a goal just four minutes in as Cito Soriano headed in a free kick from Steven Kaufman. The Highlanders held that lead throughout the first half and almost 10 minutes into the second period.

Marcoux tied things up near the end of the 56th minute by redirecting a free kick from Dan Campbell into the net from about five yards in front of the goal. It was the fifth goal of the season for Marcoux, which places him second on the team. It was the second assist of the season from Campbell, which puts him in a three-way tie for the team lead.

Curtis scored the game-winning goal in the 85th minute off another free kick from about 15 yards out. His kick went through the four-man Highlander wall and past the goalkeeper who never saw the ball until its sailed over his head.

"During the first half of the game we were a little slow," said Shaffer. "But we were playing a very good (UC) Riverside team and scoring the first goal made them even better. I was happy with our effort in the second half and it's just good to get a conference win."

The Aggies outshot UC Riverside by a 14-5 count and held a 5-2 shots on goal advantage. Sule Anibaba managed to get both of his shots on goal and only missed his seventh goal of the season after Highlander goalkeeper Charles Alamo made an incredible save while falling backwards. Quincy Amarikwa also got a shot off on goal.

UC Davis held a 5-3 advantage in corner kicks, three of which came during the first half.

The Aggies take the rest of the week off before heading down to Santa Barbara next Friday to take on the No. 12 Gauchos for the second time in as many weeks. Following that game, the Aggies travel up the freeway to take on Cal Poly.