Box Score Sept. 5, 2014 Box Score
DAVIS, Calif. -- UC Davis senior striker
Matt Sheldon netted his first goal of the year just two minutes into the match and the host Aggies turned back an 11-shot barrage from visiting Loyola Marymount, forging a 1-1 double-overtime draw with the Lions on Friday evening in front of 435 fans at the Aggie Soccer Field.
The home side remained unbeaten to start the 2014 campaign, moving to 1-0-2 overall with the draw, while LMU remained winless, moving to 0-1-2 on the year. It's the best start for a UC Davis squad since the 2012 team opened with a win and four consecutive draws en route to a 10-7-4 overall record.
Fans barely had time to find their seats before Sheldon and the Aggies broke through with the first goal of the match. Freshman Noah Wilson started the sequence with a run up the middle and took a shot that Lions' goalkeeper Paul Blanchette could not corral. The ball fell to the feet of a streaking Sheldon down the left side, burying a shot to the lower left corner just 1:56 into the match for a 1-0 lead.
Sheldon, who shared the team lead in scoring as a junior a season ago, became the third different goal scorer for UC Davis this season, while Wilson became the second Aggie freshman to tally a point this season, collecting his first collegiate assist on the play.
Loyola Marymount pressed the attack and controlled the run of play en route to a 7-2 shot advantage in the first half, eventually equalizing in the 23rd minute off the foot of Adrien Perez, who scored for the second time in the Lions' first three matches. Sebastian De Rada fed the sophomore at the top of the box, as the shot found its way through traffic to the right side of the goal from 25 yards out to make it 1-1.
Adjustments at the half by both sides led to limited opportunities as the Aggies held a slim 3-2 advantage in the shot column, but neither team could dent the net. Sheldon had an attempt stopped by Blanchette in the 62nd minute that gave UC Davis a corner, and the ensuing shot by senior defender Ramon Martin Del Campo rainbowed in on net, but missed just high.
Sam Hoeck added a header off a Noah Wilson corner in the 80th minute that sailed high as the two teams each went to extra time for the second time this season.
The Aggies' managed two of the three shots in the two extra periods, the first coming with just over four minutes to play in the first OT that went wide through the crowd and two more in the final two minutes of the second overtime off corners that found their way inside the 18 only to be intercepted and cleared out.
Sheldon finished with two of UC Davis' six shots for the match, while Grant Sampson, Perez, and Cruz Corral had two apiece for the Lions.
A second consecutive West Coast Conference foe visits Davis on Sunday (Sept. 7) at 1 p.m., as San Diego carries an unbeaten 1-0-2 mark across the Causeway following a 3-3 draw with Sacramento State on Friday afternoon.
