Box Score Nov. 5, 2016

Box Score

FULLERTON, Calif. -- Faced with the difficult task of taking on the two-time defending conference tournament champion on their own field in the opening round, the UC Davis men's soccer team proved to be up to the challenge, playing host Cal State Fullerton to a 1-1 draw before falling, 5-3, in penalty kicks in a Big West Conference Tournament first-round match on Saturday night at Titan Stadium.

The match officially goes down as a draw as the Aggies end their season at 8-9-3 overall and 4-6 in the Big West, finishing third in the always difficult North Division. The Titans moved to 9-8-4 on the year and advanced to face the North Division's top seed in UC Santa Barbara in the semifinals on Nov. 9 in Santa Barbara.

Michael Lopez's first goal of the year staked Fullerton to the early lead in the 12th minute, before UC Davis equalized in the 21st minute on junior Noah Wilson's team-high seventh goal of the season nine minutes later off a pass from teammate Kristian Heptner to even the score.

It was Wilson's third straight match with a goal after scoring against Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara -- the latter the game-winner in a 1-0 win on the road -- and he finished with at least a point in four of the team's final five contests.

That was it for the scoring on the night as the two teams played to a stalemate over the remaining 69 minutes of regulation and a pair of 10-minute overtimes, setting the stage for penalty kicks to decide who would advance.

Shooting first, Nicolo D'Amato put the Titans ahead with a shot to the right side for a 1-0 lead before Fullerton keeper David Elias guessed correctly and turned away Wilson's lead-off attempt at the left post. Heptner, Miguel Acevedo, and Greg Salazar, all converted their attempts from there on out, but UC Davis could not come up with a stop as Diego Sanchez punched the winner to the right side of the net to help Fullerton advance.

The Titans out-shot the Aggies, 19-12 for the match, led by four shots apiece from Ronaldo Pineda and Ross McPhie, while four players finished with a pair of shots for UC Davis.

Senior goalkeeper Armando Quezada made four saves on the night and got some help from the woodwork as Fullerton hit the post three times during Saturday night's contest. Elias, meanwhile, made three saves for the Titans in the victory.