Sept. 8, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

THIS WEEK
Sunday, Sept. 14 - SAN JOSE STATE, 1:00 p.m. (Aggie Soccer Stadium)

LAST WEEK
Friday, Sept. 5 - vs. Louisville, L, 1-0 (OT)
Sunday, Sept. 7 - vs. Michigan State, W, 4-2

RECAP
The UC Davis men's soccer team split two games at last weekend's TLC Plumbing and Utility Invitational at New Mexico to run its record to 3-1 on the season... The Aggies lost their first game of the season on Friday to Louisville, but rebounded on Sunday with a 4-2 rout of Michigan State..

Louisville scored a goal four minutes into the first overtime period to hand UC Davis it's first loss of the 2008 season... Both team managed 13 shots and Aggie goalkeeper Ryan McCowan made a season-high four saves before surrendering the winning goal.

Four different Aggies scored goals in Sunday's 4-2 win over Michigan State... Senior Dylan Curtis highlighted the game with his second two-assist performance of the season... Senior Quincy Amarikwa opened the scoring with his team-leading fourth goal of the season in the 11th minute... The assist came from Curtis and marked the third time Amarikwa and Curtis have hooked up for a goal this season... Fellow senior Sule Anibaba, junior Chris Leer and sophomore Miles Hadley each recorded their first goals of the season in the contest... Anibaba's goal was the eventual game-winning score... McCowan had the assist on Hadley's goal, as he served up a long 80-yard pass that Hadley headed over the goalkeeper.

Louisville won both of its games in overtime to take the overall tournament title with a 2-0 record... The host Lobos finished second with a 1-1 mark with UC Davis placing third ahead of winless Michigan State... For their efforts, Anibaba and Jarman joined the 11-man all-tournament team.

UPCOMING OPPONENT
UC Davis returns home to Aggie Soccer Stadium on Sunday with a 1 p.m. game against San Jose State... It marks the first time this season that the Aggies will play only one game in a weekend.

San Jose State has played just two regular season games this season and plays San Francisco on Wednesday before playing UC Davis on Sunday... They defeated NCAA Division II Notre Dame de Namur, 3-0, in their first game of the season and then tied Pacific-10 member Stanford, 1-1, two days later... All four goals have been scored by different players... San Jose State also played D-III Cal State East Bay in an exhibition last weekend, dominating the game 6-1.

Against Notre Dame de Namur, the Spartans managed 26 shots and had 10 on goal... The Argos used a total of 14 substitutions, including a goalkeeper, in the contest.

The Spartans managed similar numbers against the Cardinal, but couldn't finish in the 1-1 tie... San Jose State had 22 shots, nine of which came on goal... Stanford goalkeeper John Moore tallied eight saves in the contest.

HEAD COACH Dwayne Shaffer
On Last Weekend: "It was a great tournament with four teams that qualified for the NCAA Tournament last year. The level of soccer was very impressive. Our game against Louisville was a great game. They play a well-organized and disciplined brand of soccer. I thought we did everything possible to win that game. We created several opportunities to score goals, but unfortunately we weren't on target and couldn't get a lead. On Sunday we finally broke through with a lot of our younger players who have been chomping at the bit to play. It was our day and played really well. Michigan State is a good team though. We just played an outstanding game."

On San Jose State: "I know their coaches very well. They always bring in great student-athletes and I'm expecting them to be a well-coached and organized team. You just never know what you're going to get with San Jose State. It's at home and our guys are going to be excited to get back where they're comfortable. We're also going to have a couple days to rest. We just want to have a good week of training to get ready for a tough game. I feel like we've had a couple good video sessions and our players have really had the chance to watch themselves on tape and learn where they need to improve. I expect our fitness level to improve as well as our mentality and focus. I honestly feel like we're not even close to our peak and I hope we can get there soon. We have a lot of talented players. We're starting to solidify our starting players and get our reserves into their roles. We're starting to become a much more well-rounded team every day. We are capable of getting better and better and hopefully we can start to hit our peak when we begin conference competition in a few weeks."