Box Score

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. -- Senior Matt Wiesenfarth jumped on a CSUN turnover in overtime and converted on a breakaway, beating the Matador goalkeeper for his fourth goal of the season and lifting the visiting UC Davis men's soccer team to a 2-1 victory in the first round of the Big West Conference Tournament on Saturday night at Matador Soccer Field.

"Matt's had an incredible career, he's been a great addition to our program, I think he's been one of the best attacking players in the Big West," Head Coach Dwayne Shaffer said. "For him to be able to not only get the game-winning goal, but the assist on the first goal, it was just really good to see."

The victory ended a five-match winless streak for the Aggies, who improved to 8-9-3 overall and booked a date with top-seeded UC Santa Barbara in the semifinals on Nov. 11 at Harder Stadium in Santa Barbara, California, at 7 p.m.

The Gauchos handed UC Davis a pair of one-goal losses during divisional play in the regular season, winning 2-1 in Santa Barbara on Oct. 21, and 1-0 at the Aggie Soccer Field 10 days later.

CSUN, which battled UC Davis to a 1-1 draw in the only regular season meeting between the two programs, ended its regular season at 8-8-3 overall.

After the Matadors found the late equalizer with less than three minutes to play in regulation, Wiesenfarth put home the game-winner in the 93rd minute, jumping on a turnover by CSUN in their own half of the field and slotting it past goalkeeper Adam Hobbs to end the match.

"Their back line was pretty far up the field and spread out, this field is really wide," Wiesenfarth said. "I knew that if their left back tried to play a ball back to their center back, if I baited it enough, I might be able to pick it off, and it worked out nicely."

The score capped a three-point night for Wiesenfarth, who assisted on junior Connor Willis-Hong's first goal of the season in the 74th minute that gave the Aggies the early lead. Just 49 seconds after checking in as a second-half substitute, Willis-Hong parlayed a long ball by Wiesenfarth into a shot to the near post that beat Hobbs for the 1-0 advantage.

"I just kinda felt with his fresh legs, if we could put him in the midfield at that point that, maybe, with Northridge getting a little fatigued, it would work," Shaffer said. "Before I put him in the game, I said 'Connor, make a difference. Make a play.' That was our big motto on the week, and he slotted home a nice goal."

It was the first goal for UC Davis since the 74th minute of the match at UC Santa Barbara on Oct. 21, ending a drought of 379:25. Willis-Hong became the 14th different goal scorer for UC Davis -- the most in a single-season since the Aggies had 16 goal scorers during the 1999 campaign.

UC Davis almost made it 2-0 in the 82nd minute as Kyle Higgins had an attempt kicked away by Hobbs to keep it a one-goal match, giving the Matadors a chance to still find the tying score. They did so five minutes later as Papi Diouf, who had a header denied by goalkeeper Kris Schultz at point blank range in the 87th minute, headed home another pass from Tanner Snedigar 26 seconds later to tie the match at one apiece.

"At the end of regulation, we were all a little bit upset about it, but I told the guys, 'You gotta shake it off, there's nothing we can do about it, it's a goal, we're in overtime, let's win it," Shaffer said. "We came down here to win. We know what our season is down to. We're one-and-done, so we're going for it."

It was then CSUN's turn to try and win it in regulation, but Trevor Morley's header with two seconds remaining rang off the crossbar as time expired, sending the teams to overtime.

The Matadors outshot the Aggies by a count of 13-12 for the match, led by a match-high five shots from Diouf. Freshman Kristian Heptner led UC Davis with three shots -- two of those coming in an 11-second span in the first half when one attempt was cleared off the line by the CSUN defense and another blocked away from trouble to keep the match scoreless.

Schultz finished with four saves on the night for the Aggies, making a pair of stops in each half, and marshaling a defense that successfully defended nine corners. Hobbs finished with three stops for the Matadors.

UC Davis (8-9-3) vs. CSUN (8-8-3)
Date: Nov 07, 2015 Attendance: 511
Weather: Cool, Cloudless, 70s

Goals by period 1 2 OT Tot
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UC Davis.............. 0 1 1 - 2
CSUN................... 0 1 0 - 1

SCORING SUMMARY:
1. 73:08 UCD Willis-Hong, Connor (1) (Wiesenfarth, Matt) - long ball, far side, beat GK to near post
2. 87:16 CSUN Diouf, Papi (2) (Snedigar, Tanner;Turcios, David) - Drop at Center, 22 pass to 9, who heads in
3. 92:35 UCD Wiesenfarth, Matt (4) (unassisted) - Turnover by CSUN, 11 jumps on and scores

Shots: UC Davis 12, CSUN 13
Saves: UC Davis 4 (Schultz, Kris 4), CSUN 4 (Hobbs, Adam 3; TEAM 1)