Sep 5, 2013

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

Aug. 30 at Portland: L, 1-0
Sept. 1 at Oregon State: L, 2-0

THIS WEEK'S ACTION

Match 3

Seattle Redhawks (0-2-0)
at
UC Davis Aggies (0-2-0)

Game 1 of 2 at the Copa de Causeway Tournament
Friday, Sept. 6 - 5 p.m.
Aggie Soccer Field (1,000) - Davis, Calif.

Live Stats:
In-game Twitter Updates: @UCDavisInGame

Match 4

CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners (0-1-0)
at
UC Davis Aggies

Game 2 of 2 at the Copa de Causeway Tournament
Sunday, Sept. 8 - 5 p.m.
Aggie Soccer Field (1,000) - Davis, Calif.

Live Stats:
In-game Twitter Updates: @UCDavisInGame

DAVIS, Calif. - Three of UC Davis' next four contests will take place at Aggie Soccer Field, including matches against the Seattle Redhawks and CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners this Friday and Sunday, respectively, as part of this year's Copa de Causeway Tournament.

Hosted by Sacramento State and UC Davis, these Causeway rivals will take turns hosting the Redhawks and Roadrunners throughout the weekend. Since the Hornets and Aggies comprise half of the Big West Conference's North Division, the teams will not face one another this weekend and will compete twice during league play.

Live stats via Gametracker for both UC Davis matches are available at ucdavisaggies.com.

HOME SWEET HOME
In his first 16 home openers, Coach Shaffer's teams have compiled a 10-3-3 record and have earned victories in six of the last nine seasons. Washington, the only team to defeat UC Davis as a Division I program, escaped Davis with a win in double overtime in the Aggies 2009 home opener.

FOLLOW THE LEADER
Big West goalkeepers are looking up to Omar Zeenni as the senior leads the conference with eight saves and a 4.00 saves per game mark.

In addition to its eight saves, UC Davis also leads all conference teams with 19 corner kicks earned throughout the Aggies' inaugural matches of the season.

SCOUTING SEATTLE
The Redhawks will continue their six-match road trip Friday in UC Davis' 2013 home opener. Last weekend, Seattle started its trip back east with a 3-1 loss at UMBC, and followed that result by dropping its next match, at Delaware, by a 3-2 score.

Senior forward Miguel Gonzalez, sophomore midfielder Michael Roberts and redshirt freshman forward Jeff Rose each scored a goal for the Redhawks during their opening weekend. In those two contests, Seattle was outshot by a 43-18 margin, and allowed 21 shots on goal compared to its nine.

Of those 43 shots allowed, Redhawk opponents recorded 23 in the first half; four of the six goals allowed by Seattle also took place throughout the first 45 minutes of action.

UC Davis and Seattle fought to a 1-1 tie in their last head-to-head meeting in 2011, which also took place at Aggie Soccer Field. The all-time series is tied at 2-2-1; the Aggies defeated the Redhawks 1-0 in 2002 and 2-0 the following season, Seattle defeated UC Davis 2-1 in 2001 and 1-0 when the teams met in 2010.

SCOUTING CSU BAKERSFIELD
Coming off a 4-0 loss in its season opener at Denver, CSU Bakersfield will continue its five-match road swing Friday, at Sacramento State, and Sunday against the Aggies.

In Denver, sophomore midfielder Christian Duarte recorded half of the Roadrunners' four shots, senior defenders Zayd Flores and Scott Luedtke also recorded one shot apiece. Sophomore goalkeeper Anthony Perez also collected five saves against the Pioneers.

Denver finished the evening with 21 shots compared to a Bakersfield team that only took seven.

UC Davis and preseason Western Athletic Conference favorites CSUB battled to a scoreless draw in their last two meetings (2011 in Davis and '12 in Bakersfield); the Aggies trail the all-time series 8-5-3. The last UC Davis victory took place at home, in 2008, when the Aggies defeated the 'Runners, 1-0.

KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE BALL
Throughout the first two events, UC Davis has outshot its opponents 37-25. The Aggies have also taken more shots on goal that its Oregon-based opponents last weekend by a 14-11 figure.

RECORD BREAKDOWN
This season, UC Davis men's soccer is:

0-2 overall
0-0 against Big West teams

0-0 at home
0-2 on the road
0-0 in neutral site matches

0-0 against ranked opponents
0-2 in shutouts

0-1 in matches decided by one goal
0-1 in matches decided by two goals
0-0 in matches decided by three or more goals
0-0 in overtime

0-2 when UC Davis scores first
0-2 when opponents score first

0-0 leading at halftime
0-1 trailing at halftime
0-1 tied at halftime

2-0 when the Aggies outshoot opponents
0-0 when opponents outshoot the Aggies
0-0 when shots are tied

0-2 when the Aggies take more corner kicks
0-0 when opponents take more corner kicks than the Aggies
0-0 equal number or corner kicks

0-0 when the Aggies commit more fouls
0-2 when opponents commit more fouls
0-0 equal number of fouls

DISSECTING THE NUMBERS
Compared to their Big West counterparts, the Aggies possess the following totals (rankings in parentheses):

Shots: 37 (T-2)
Saves: 8 (1)
Shutouts: 0 (T-6)
Corners: 19 (1)
Offsides: 3 (6)

TOP TOTALS
Entering the second week of action, numerous Aggies possess top-10 totals in the Big West (rankings in parentheses)

Shots: Alex Aguiar - 9 (T-2); Ryan Gross - 6 (T-8)
Shots Per Game: Alex Aguiar - 4.50 (T-2); Ryan Gross - 3.00 (T-8)
Goals Against Average: Omar Zeenni - 1.50 (8)
Save Percentage: Omar Zeenni - .727 (7)
Saves: Omar Zeenni - 8 (1)
Saves Per Game: Omar Zeenni - 4.00 (1)

CONTINUING HIS CLIMB
Senior goalkeeper Omar Zeenni enters the 2013 season tied for No. 2 all time with 13 shutouts alongside Jason Kong (1998-2001) and Barry Wong (1990-91). With his next clean sheet, he will hold second place outright and sit three shutouts shy of matching the program record of 17 held by Nic Platter (2000-03).

MAKING HIS MARK IN THE BIG WEST CONFERENCE
Perhaps the top returning netminder in the Big West is senior Omar Zeenni. An All-Big West Second Team selection in 2012, Zeenni recorded an impressive 0.91 goals against average with six shutouts. He enters his senior year tied for ninth in Big West annals with a 1.00 career GAA. As long as he stays healthy, Zeenni should break into the Big West top 10 in shutouts, goalie minutes and matches in goal by season's end.

DEFENDING REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONS PICKED SECOND IN PRESEASON POLL
Despite three first-place votes, the UC Davis men's soccer team was picked to finish second in the North Division in the Big West Preseason Coaches Poll, the league announced on Thursday.

The Aggies received three of the eight potential first-place votes and picked up 23 total points, but UC Santa Barbara narrowly edged them out with five first-place votes and 25 points. Cal Poly checked in third in the North Division with 21 points and Sacramento State was last with 11.

UC Davis claimed the program's first Big West regular season title in 2012 as they bested their North Division competition with a 7-3 conference record.

In the South Division, defending Big West Tournament champion Cal State Northridge came in first with six first-place votes and a league-high 30 points. UC Irvine was picked to finish second with one first-place vote and 21 total points. Cal State Fullerton also picked up a first-place vote but came in third with 16 points and UC Riverside was last with 13 points.

THE SEASON BEFORE THE SEASON
As was the case last season, UC Davis will host three non-conference matches before hosting UC Irvine in its inaugural Big West contest of the year. After hosting Seattle and CSU Bakersfield, on Sept. 6 and 8 respectively as part of the Copa de Causeway, UC Davis will battle San Francisco, at Aggie Soccer Field, on Sunday, Sept. 15. All home non-conference matches will kickoff at 5 p.m.

Just like the 2012 campaign, UC Davis will compete in six road events before facing the Anteaters; this year, the Aggies will travel to Portland (Aug. 30), Oregon State (Sept. 1), Saint Mary's (Sept. 12), San Diego (Sept. 20), Loyola Marymount (Sept. 22) and New Mexico (Sept. 27).

TRULY A TEAM EFFORT
UC Davis finished a 10-7-4 record last season, marking the first time since 2008 that the program collected double-digit victories. The Aggies managed that without a go-to scorer, as four different players tied for the team lead with three goals apiece.

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE AGGIES' ROSTER
Included below is a breakdown of UC Davis' 2013 roster by class, primary position and geography.

Freshmen (9): Ryan Caro, Kirk Kappelhoff, Justin Kitts, Dashiell MacNamara, Logan Magonigal, Armando Quezada, Isaac Stuart, Spencer Williams, Connor Willis-Hong Sophomores (6): Eric Budniewski, Ryan Gross, Hoshang Hatifie, Lucas Mohageg, John Piasta, Kris Schultz Juniors (8): Andre Brown, Brian Ford, Eddie Manella, Ramon Martin Del Campo, Sam Hoeck, Ian Palmer, Matt Sheldon, Matt Wiesenfarth Seniors (7): Alex Aguiar, Michael Garrick, Nick Grigoriev, Alex Henry, Elliott Hord, Kevin Schulte, Omar Zeenni

Goalkeepers (4): John Piasta, Armando Quezada, Kris Schultz, Omar Zeenni Defenders (9): Brian Ford, Ryan Gross, Alex Henry, Sam Hoeck, Ramon Martin Del Campo, Lucas Mohageg, Ian Palmer, Spencer Williams, Connor Willis-Hong Midfielders (12): Alex Aguiar, Andre Brown, Eric Budniewski, Ryan Caro, Hoshang Hatifie, Elliott Hord, Kirk Kappelhoff, Justin Kitts, Logan Magonigal, Eddie Manella, Kevin Schulte, Isaac Stuart,
Forwards (5): Michael Garrick, Nick Grigoriev, Dashiell MacNamara, Matt Sheldon, Matt Wiesenfarth

California (28): Alex Aguiar, Andre Brown, Eric Budniewski, Ryan Caro, Brian Ford, Michael Garrick, Nick Grigoriev, Ryan Gross, Hoshang Hatifie, Alex Henry, Sam Hoeck, Elliott Hord, Justin Kitts, Dashiell MacNamara, Eddie Manella, Logan Magonigal, Ramon Martin Del Campo, Lucas Mohageg, Ian Palmer, John Piasta, Armando Quezada, Kevin Schulte, Kris Schultz, Isaac Stuart, Matt Wiesenfarth, Spencer Williams, Connor Willis-Hong, Omar Zeenni Australia (1): Kirk Kappelhoff Oregon (1): Matt Sheldon