Jan. 12, 2009
DAVIS, Calif. - The UC Davis men's soccer team continued to make a name for itself as a highly-competitive NCAA Division I program in 2008 with one of the most successful seasons in its history.
"I was extremely pleased and happy with our performance throughout the season," said head coach Dwayne Shaffer. "The players came into the season with a great attitude and a great work ethic. They were primed to have a good season, and they did."
Following a 2007 season in which the Aggies took the Big West Conference by surprise with a second-place finish and a first-ever appearance in the D-I postseason, they added a second NCAA tournament berth and an invitation to the reinstated Big West Tournament in 2008. Along the way they won 13 games and became the first Aggie team to host a D-I tournament game.
"To turn around and achieve a second berth into the NCAA tournament was just a great achievement for this year's group of players," said Shaffer. "They put in a lot of hard work to get there. It also led to a first-round game here at UC Davis, which was great for our program and the university. It was one of about five games that was completely sold out."
At one point during the season, UC Davis went undefeated in 10 straight games, which was capped by a 2-0 win over No. 13 UC Santa Barbara on the road. During that run, seniors Quincy Amarikwa and Dylan Curtis were leading the nation in goals and assists, respectively. Those achievements earned the team their best-ever national ranking at No. 7 by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) and national recognition with an article that appeared on ESPN.com. In addition, Amarikwa's bicycle-kick goal during the Aggies' victory in Santa Barbara later earned Soccer America Goal of the Year honors.
That 10-game unbeaten streak also featured two ties with conference champion UC Irvine and a 4-2 win over NCAA tournament qualifier Michigan State. The Aggies also completed an undefeated record (1-0-1) against perennial power UC Santa Barbara, as they became the first-ever Big West team to shutout the Gauchos twice in the same season.
The Aggies earned a first-round postseason home game against Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) champion Denver. Led by two goals, one of which was off a bicycle kick, from junior
Chris Leer, the Aggies routed the Pioneers, 4-0, to become the first UC Davis team to advance in the D-I playoffs. That win also secured an undefeated home record of 7-0-3 for the Aggies.
The season ended the following week on a snowy field against Michigan in sub-zero Ann Arbor, Mich, 2-1.
Curtis tied the single season record with 11 assists while Amarikwa's 15 goals were tied for third-most in a single season. Curtis capped his career second on the all-time assists list and Amarikwa placed in the top five in goals and points.
For their efforts, Amarikwa was named the Big West Conference Offensive Player of the Year while Curtis nabbed conference midfielder of the year honors. Both players were also honored with All-Region and All-America status by the NSCAA, making them the first-ever Aggies to achieve those accolades at the D-I level. Curtis added academic All-American honors and finished third in the voting for the prestigious Lowe's Senior CLASS Award, which honors the best all-around senior student-athletes in the country.
Seniors Jordan Vanderpoorten, Sule Anibaba and Paul Marcoux earned conference acclaim as well for their efforts.
Overall, the Aggies led the conference with just 20 goals allowed and a goals against average of 0.87. They finished second with eight shutouts, which gave starting Aggie goalkeeper Ryan McCowan the second-most in single season history.
"I feel like we have fully developed into a competitive NCAA Division I program," said Shaffer. "We now have a full roster of D-I student-athletes who have the right mental and physical make-up."
Curtis and Amarikwa continued their postseason success by being among 65 student-athletes nationwide to be invited to the Major League Soccer Combine in preparation for the upcoming MLS SuperDraft on January 15. Vanderpoorten, Anibaba and senior Ian Conklin are also looking to continue their soccer careers at the professional level.
"It's nice to know that our program has developed a great reputation and that our players are now being scouted by Major League Soccer," said Shaffer. "I know we had at least eight MLS scouts present at our games and that shows that we are very well known and that we can produce MLS talent."
The Aggies will graduate nine seniors and look to a young corp. to lead the team in the years to come. "We'll be young next season and have a lot of guys who need to transition into the D-I level of competition," said Shaffer. "I don't think it will take that long to develop those student-athletes."
