Nov. 10, 2007

Final Stats

DAVIS, Calif. - Juniors Sule Anibaba, Ian Conklin and Juan Hernandez scored goals, and freshman goalkeeper Ryan McCowan had a career-high seven saves to lead UC Davis to a 3-2 Big West Conference men's soccer victory over No. 19 Cal Poly Saturday afternoon in front of 610 fans on a rain-soaked Aggie Soccer Stadium during senior day.

The victory catapults the Aggies into a tie with Cal Poly for second place in the conference as they share identical point totals of 19. UC Davis is now 6-3-1 in conference and 11-4-2 overall while the Mustangs fall to 5-2-4 in conference and 10-3-4 overall. The two teams split their two games this season.

UC Davis managed to outshoot the Mustangs, 12-10, but Cal Poly directed nine of their 10 shots on goal. The Aggies had seven more corner kicks, 9-2.

McCowan came up with a career-high seven saves in goal to help the Aggies win the contest. He has now won four of his last five starts.

"(This win) keeps our hopes alive to be able to play for another day," said head coach Dwayne Shaffer. "We still have two games remaining, and this win makes both of those meaningful."

The Aggies celebrated the careers of seniors Paul Cain, Nicholas Lind, Julien Cerutti, Matt Slagle and Dylan Curtis before the start of the contest.

Cal Poly jumped out to an early 1-0 lead off a goal by Kyle Montgomery in the ninth minute as he took a pass from David Zamora in front of the box and sent it past McCowan for his fifth score of the season.

UC David responded 20 minutes later behind Anibaba's team-leading eighth goal of the season. Fellow junior Quincy Amarikwa recorded his second assist of the year as he centered a ball for Anibaba from the left corner of the net to knot the score at 1-1 before the half.

Conklin lifted the Aggies to the lead in the 52nd minute as he collected a rebound and put in past Mustang goalkeeper Eric Brangan-Franco from about 15 yards out to record his third score of the season. Hernandez came in for the Aggies in 65th minute and scored what would eventually turn into the game-winner five minutes later off a header from the right corner of the box to put UC Davis up 3-1. It was his first score of the season.

The Mustangs responded 12 minutes later behind an unassisted goal from Julian Alvarez to keep the pressure on the Aggie defense. The Mustangs totaled two more shots on goal in the five minutes of the contest, but couldn't break through for the game-tying score.

Cal Poly entered the contest with the best goals against average in the conference (0.81). Branagan-Franco, who is ranked nationally in GAA (.826), finished with two saves in goal.

"We beat a really good team today," said Shaffer. "We've proven that we can come from behind. We also proved that we just play good soccer no matter what the score is."

There were a total of six yellow cards issued in the contest, four of which went to the Mustangs. The Aggies committed 11 more fouls, 27-16.

The Aggies return to action next weekend with their final two games of the season. They begin the trip on Friday at Cal State Fullerton and end the season on Sunday at UC Irvine.