Nov. 23, 2007

Final Stats

BERKELEY, Calif. - Andrew Wiederman scored off a throw-in assist from Luke Sassano in the 101st minute on Friday afternoon to lift No. 17 California to a 2-1 win over No. 25 UC Davis in front of a crowd of 3,479 during the first round of the NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship at Edwards Stadium.

UC Davis was making its first-ever appearance in the Div. I tournament in just its first year of eligibility. The Aggies finish their season 12-5-3 overall after finishing in second place in the Big West Conference. Cal, the Pac-10 champion, improves to 12-5-2 and advances to face Virginia Tech in the second round on Wednesday in Blacksburg, Va.

"I thought we played well enough to win the game," said Aggie head coach Dwayne Shaffer. "We just didn't get the breaks we needed in the overtime periods. I'm very proud of my team. They have nothing to hang their heads over."

The golden goal in the second overtime came after the Aggies had tied the score in the 74th minute on a header from Quincy Amerikwa after a throw-in assist from Paul Cain. Amarikwa took the pass from Cain and headed it past Cal goalkeeper Stefen Frei for the first-ever D-1 postseason goal in school history. He finished the contest with six shots, three on goal. "We knew if we kept pressing them we'd break through eventually," said Amarikwa. We'll learn from this loss and move on from it. It'll make us a better team."

Cal had taken a 1-0 lead in the 33rd minute of the contest off the foot of Andrew Jacobson. Jacobson collected a pass and drove it past Aggie keeper Ryan McCowan to the far post from about 30 yards out. Sussano also had the assist on the goal.

McCowan finished with two saves in goal for UC Davis, while Frei posted seven saves in victory.

Both teams managed several opportunities to score goals throughout the contest. The Aggies sent a few offerings high, while the Golden Bears missed a shot off the cross bar and had another shot kick away at the last second by McCowan.

Senior Nicholas Lind, and sophomores Chris Leer and Paul Marcoux each had multiple shots and one shot on goal in the contest.

The Aggies outshot the Golden Bears, 18-14, and got off four more shots on goal, 8-4. UC Davis also held the advantage in corner kicks, 8-7, and were whistled for seven more fouls. Both teams were assessed one yellow card.

"We gave it our all today," said Aggie co-captain Sule Anibaba. "Unfortunately, we didn't get the outcome we wanted. We played really well today. We proved a lot of people wrong this season."