Oct. 24, 2009

Final Stats

DAVIS, Calif. - No. 22 UC Irvine had to come from behind to defeat UC Davis, 2-1, in a Big West Conference men's soccer game Saturday afternoon at Aggie Soccer Stadium. The Aggies took an early 1-0 lead before the Anteaters scored what turned out to be the game-winner in the 80th minute. Chris Leer scored the lone goal for UC Davis.

UC Davis (5-11-1, 2-5-1 Big West) created the bulk of the early opportunities with the game's first six shots. The Aggies broke through in the 25th minute when Leer tucked in a deflected save off of a shot by John Joslin. It was Leer's second goal of the season and gave the Aggies a 1-0 advantage past the midway point of the first half.

UC Irvine (11-4-0, 4-2-0 BWC) countered at the 33-minute mark when Amani Walker's header off of a free kick by Irving Garcia resulted in the game-tying goal. The game remained tied until the 80th minute when Zach Olow scored his first goal of the season to put UC Irvine on top, 2-1. The Anteaters would hang on in the final 10 minutes to clinch the victory.

"I thought my team continued to play hard, and we kept trying to score another goal," said UC Davis head coach Dwayne Shaffer of his team's effort following the early lead. "I thought we did everything we needed to do to win that game just like we've done in four or five games this season."

"I'm happy with their effort," added Shaffer. "I thought they played well today. They played well on Wednesday. They played well last Saturday. Unfortunately, we're just coming on the wrong end of all of the games."

In all, UC Irvine outshot UC Davis 15-13. Garcia topped UCI with four shots. Leer led the Aggies with four shots while Jason Santos, Jameil Hall, Paul Marcoux and John Joslin each had two shots.

UC Davis returns to action Oct. 31 when it hosts Cal Poly in its home finale.