Sept. 11, 2011

Box Score

DAVIS, Calif. - For the fourth consecutive match, the UC Davis men's soccer team took the game into overtime, but ended in a scoreless draw with CSU Bakersfield on Sunday at Aggie Soccer Field in Davis.

UC Davis is now 2-1-2 on the year and owns a four-game unbeaten streak. CSU Bakersfield moves to 2-0-1.

"I'm proud of my team that we played so hard," said head coach Dwayne Shaffer. "We still had energy at the end and the credit goes to this team with our fourth overtime game in a row. I thought the defense played outstanding again and Omar Zeenni played really well. We're a young team that's learning and we're getting put under so much pressure in these overtime games, but we're responding."

The Roadrunners, in their first game since Sept. 1, came out strong right at the start, winning a corner kick in the first minute and peppering the UC Davis goal with five shots in the first 10 minutes. The UC Davis defense responded, however, as several defenders stepped up to block the CSU Bakersfield shot attempts while Zeenni stepped up with a save in the sixth minute of the game.

As the second half got underway, CSU Bakersfield begin its strong attack again, but Zeenni stepped up again with back-to-back saves in the 55th minute. At the 54:35 mark, Evan Fassler's hard shot into the upper left corner of the goal was tipped over the crossbar by Zeenni while a header shot from Justin Finch landed safely in Zeenni's hands less than a minute later.

Gyasi Zardes had an open look for CSU Bakersfield after he received a through pass from teammate Jesus Sanchez, but his attempt hit the post and was cleared out.

The Aggies had a strong chance to go ahead in the 60th minute Eddie Manella's corner kick found Ian Palmer who headed the ball back to Tony Rascon. Rascon's shot was all but in the back of the net when a CSU Bakersfield defender cleared it away, just inches from the goal line.

With less than a minute to go in the first overtime period, Kevin Schulte's sent a ball to Alex Henry on the left sideline, but Eric Shannon made a diving save to touch the ball out of bounds.

Zeenni stepped up in the second overtime with another save after Kory Kindle dribbled in behind the UC Davis defense, then took a hard shot, but Zeeni was there to grab the ball.

In the final seconds, the sophomore goalkeeper made a diving deflection on a shot by Zardes to preserve the shutout.

Zeenni finished with seven saves and picked up his second straight shutout. Shannon had four saves on the day.

Led by Zardes' nine shots, CSU Bakersfield had 23 attempts to UC Davis' 11 while winning 12 corner kicks.

UC Davis returns to action on Friday as part of the Lakeside Classic in Evanston, Ill. The Aggies face host Northwestern at 5 p.m. (PT) before taking on Northern Illinois on Sunday, Sept. 18 at 9:30 a.m. (PT).