THIS WEEK...
MATCH 1: San Jose State (0-0) at UC Davis (0-0)
Friday, Aug. 26, 2016
5:00 p.m.
Davis, Calif.
Aggie Soccer Field
Game Coverage: Live Stats | Live Video | UC Davis Notes | SJSU Notes

OPENING WHISTLE: Coming off a solid exhibition victory in its only tune-up for the regular season, the UC Davis men's soccer team officially lifts the lid on its 2016 campaign this Friday (Aug. 26), welcoming Bay Area rival San Jose State to the Aggie Soccer Field for a 5 p.m. kickoff.

IN THE POLLS: Neither UC Davis, nor San Jose State, are ranked nationally entering this week's opener.

BE A FOLLOWER: Fans can keep up with the latest in UC Davis athletics by following us on Facebook (/ucdavisaggies) and Twitter (@UCDavisAggies), while the men's soccer program is available on Twitter (@UCDavisMSOC). Live in-game updates for home contests are also available on Twitter by following us @UCDavisInGame.

I NEED STATS, STAT!: Barring technical difficulties, live stats for all UC Davis home matches, as well as select road contests, are available on your computer and mobile devices courtest the StatBroadcast platform. Visit the men's soccer schedule page at UCDavisAggies.com or the UC Davis StatBroadcast landing page at UCDavisLiveStats.com to access the links.

WATCH THIS: All UC Davis home matches, and select road contests, will be streamed live online via the Big West TV platform. Links to view each contest will be available on the men's soccer schedule page at UCDavisAggies.com.

SAN JOSE STATE BRIEFLY: The Spartans return 11 letter winners and seven starters overall off of last season's squad that finished 6-11-2 overall and 4-4-2 in the Western Athletic Conference to place sixth... San Jose State is under the direction of Head Coach Simon Tobin, who is in his third year in charge of the program and his 30th year overall... Senior Rory Knibbs returns for his final collegiate season after pacing the squad with 11 goals and 23 points last year as the Spartans return their top three scorers... San Jose State has a trio of fresh faces in net, welcoming a pair of freshmen as well as San Diego State transfer -- and San Jose native -- Nedin Tucakovic, who appeared in three matches for the Aztecs in 2015... The Spartans dropped a 4-1 decision to Saint Mary's in their only exhibition match of the season as junior Carlos Valdovinos scored SJSU's lone goal.

VERSUS THE SPARTANS: San Jose State and UC Davis have split the four meetings during the Aggies' Division I Era dating back to 2007, with each team winning a pair on its home field... The two met last season for the first time in five years with the Spartans pulling out a 2-1 win in double overtime in San Jose... UC Davis' last win in the series came in 2010, a 1-0 overtime triumph in Davis on Sept. 5... Four of the last five meetings have been decided by a single goal, with the only blemish on that record being a 4-1 San Jose State win in 2009.

LAST TIME OUT - UC DAVIS 2:1 CHICO STATE: UC Davis sophomore Kristian Heptner scored twice, including the game-winner in the 78th minute on Sunday, helping lift the host Aggies to an exhibition win over visiting Chico State. Heptner, who finished with a goal and an assist as a freshman, opened the scoring by converting a penalty kick in the 29th minute and, after the Wildcats equalized mid-way through the second half, finished off a pass from teammate Matt Baringer for the game-winner. Chico State out-shot the Aggies, 12-10, for the match.

BUT WHO'S COUNTING?: It may have only been an exhibition, but Sunday's win against Chico State continued a tradition of success for UC Davis in pre-season tune-ups, improving the Aggies to 8-1-3 in exhibitions since the Aggies made their Division I debut in 2007. UC Davis has out-scored opponents, 26-6, in that span. The Aggies and Wildcats have met nine times in preseason exhibitions, playing every season since 2008, with UC Davis holding a 5-1-3 mark in those matches and only two of the nine between for the former California Collegiate Athletic Association rivals decided by more than a single goal.

BIG WEST PRESEASON POLL: UC Davis was picked to finish third overall in the Big West Conference's North Division and finished sixth overall as league office released the preseason coaches poll on Aug. 17. The Aggies received 18 points to finish just one point back of second-place Cal Poly in the North, while UC Santa Barbara recevied all eight first-place votes to finish atop the division. Two-time defending conference tournament champion Cal State Fullerton recevied seven of the eight first-place votes and was picked to win the South Division with 31 points, standing ahead of UC Irvine (one first-place vote) and CSUN, which tied for second with 20 points. Sacramento State (11 points) in the North, and UC Riverside (nine points) in the South, were picked to finish fourth in their respective divisions.

A QUICK LOOK AT THE AGGIES: UC Davis returns 17 letter winners -- including six starters -- and 20 players overall off of last season's roster as the Aggies look to improve on an 8-10-3 overall record and a 3-4-3 mark (third in the North Division) in Big West Conference play. UC Davis has lost three of its top four scorers, bringing back just over half of its 29 goals from a season ago. Sophomore defender Roy Boateng, who was an All-Big West honorable mention and all-freshman team selection a season ago, is the leading returning scorer after netting four goals and an assist, while starting 20 of the team's 21 matches on the back line. Junior winger Evan Barrett also returns after scoring twice and assisting on three other goals. In goal, Armando Quezada is the senior incumbent after posting a 1.42 goals against average and 27 saves in nine matches.

BY THE NUMBERS: UC Davis returns just 15 of its 29 goals (52%) spread out among 11 returning goal scorers, 15 of its 26 assists (58%), 167 of its 293 shots (57%), and 27 of its 75 (36%) saves, from a season ago. What does it all mean? We don't know, but numbers are fun.

LID LIFTERS: Dating back to the 1990 season, the Aggies are 10-13-3 in season openers and just 2-6-1 since its first Division I campaign in 2007... Following last year's loss, UC Davis is 0-2-1 in its last three openers, looking for its first win since a 1-0 shutout of UNLV in 2012... Friday's match against San Jose State will be the Aggies' first season opener at home for the first time since that win over the Rebels... The last five season openers for UC Davis have ended in a shutout for one side or the other.

WELCOME TO THE WCC?: The Aggies may be able to apply for membership in the West Coast Conference this season as they will face six of the league's eight men's soccer playing members, missing only Gonzaga and Santa Clara. According to records that date back to 1990, UC Davis is a combined 8-11-7 overall against WCC opponents, but is unbeaten (3-0-5) in its last eight against league members dating back to a 1-0 loss at San Diego on Sept. 20, 2013.

OUR HOUSE: The Aggies defended their home turf well last season, finishing 5-2-2 overall at the Aggie Soccer Field and posting their sixth-straight winning season at home. UC Davis has posted a winning record on its home pitch in eight of their nine Division I seasons, including an unbeaten 7-0-3 mark in 2008 en route to an NCAA Tournament berth. Overall, the Aggies are a combined 99-47-20 (.657) at home in 19 seasons under Head Coach Dwayne Shaffer, and haven't suffered a losing campaign at home since 2009 (3-4) -- the ONLY losing season at home under Shaffer's direction.

STATE OF THE AGGIES: The 2016 UC Davis roster will feature a majority of Californians, but four Aggies on this year's roster hail from outside the "Golden State," the most in the program's Division I Era since the 2011 and 2012 squads had the same number. Freshman goalkeeper Wallis Lapsley (Washington), junior transfer Chase Rhode (North Carolina), and Montana natives Kyle Higgins and Adam Mickelson, each represent the first Aggies from those states since the program made the jump to Division I in 2007. Other out-of-state Aggies include: Arizona's Ian Palmer, Oregon's Matt Sheldon, Colorado's Lance Patterson, and imports Kirk Kappelhoff (Australia) and Riley Newport (British Columbia).

SHAFFER'S MARCH TO 200: Now in his 20th season at the helm of the Aggie program, UC Davis Head Coach Dwayne Shaffer enters the 2016 campaign just 11 wins shy No. 200 for his Division I coaching career, carrying a 189-156-48 record in 20 seasons -- 182 of those coming in his 19 years at UC Davis -- when you include his one year at Dayton. Overall, Shaffer has accumulated a total of 241 wins as a head coach at UC Davis (19 years), Dayton (one year), and Santa Rosa Junior College (four years).

NO MORE JITTERS: In all, 20 of the 29 student-athletes on this year's roster saw time in Sunday's exhibition win over Chico State -- including the Division I debuts of junior Onah Power (who earned a spot in the starting 11), freshmen Wallis Lapsley, Justin Leavitt, and Nabi Kibunguchy, as well as the Aggie debut of Wake Forest transfer Chase Rhode.

THE BEST OFFENSE IS A GOOD DEFENDER: After finishing his first season third on the team in scoring with four goals and nine points overall, sophomore All-Big West defender Roy Boateng looks to continue a recent trend that has seen an Aggie defensive player also show well on the offensive side of the ball. The leading returning scorer for UC Davis in 2016, Boateng looks to build off the work of former back line mate Lucas Mohageg, who shared the team lead in scoring in 2014 (four goals, 10 points) and paced the 2015 squad (seven goals, 18 points) last year.

OH NO, NOT OT: Better than half of UC Davis' 41 matches over the last two seasons have gone past the regulation 90 minutes, as the Aggies have played 22 overtime contests in that span -- with 17 of those 22 going to double overtime -- posting a 6-4-12 mark in those matches. The nine draws by UC Davis during the 2014 season tied an NCAA single-season record (and set a Big West Conference single-season record) at the time, while the 14 overtime contests overall that same season were a new NCAA record.

ROAD LESS TRAVELED: Following Friday's match against San Jose State, the Aggies will play their next five straight away from the friendly confines of the Aggie Soccer Field -- their longest stretch since a five-match trip from Sept. 17-Oct. 2 in 2010. That stretch, however, included a pair of neutral site matches between two tournaments, as this year's five consecutive true road matches will be the program's longest such run away from home since Sept. 9-22 during the 2000 season.

IT ONLY TAKES ONE: Last season, 16 of the Aggies' 21 contests were decided by a single goal or less (including draws) -- the third-highest total in the program's Division I Era behind only the 2014 season (19 of the team's 20 matches) and 2011 campaign (17 of 19). UC Davis' 2015 season may have looked a bit different had the ball bounced the other way as the Aggies were just 5-8-3 in those close shaves a season ago.

HORD "COMES HOME:" Former UC Davis standout Elliott Hord agreed to terms with the Sacramento Republic FC for the remainder of the 2016 USL season, the club announced on Aug. 19. Hord, who signed a contract last year with third-division Swedish side Yxhults IK, most recently appeared in 10 matches for the Fresno Fuego in the USL's Premier Development League this season before joining the Republic, recording an assist in 900 minutes of play. A four-year letter winner for the Aggies from 2010-13, Hord appeared in 67 career matches for UC Davis, making 25 starts and finishing with a goal and an assist on 28 shots.

AGGIE FUTBOL FUN FACTS
• UC Davis has qualified for the Big West Conference Tournament in each of the last five seasons -- the only league member to accomplish that feat in that span...

• The 14 different goal scorers last season were the most since the 1999 Aggie squad finished with 16 players finding the back of the net...

• The 29 goals scored last season as a team finished third in the Big West Conference -- surpassing the team's total from each of the two previous years and ranks third on the single-season chart in the program's Division I Era...

• UC Davis is 9-5-2 (.625) against the Big West Conference South since the league began divisional play in 2012 -- posting the second-highest win total and the second-best winning percentage in the conference (UC Santa Barbara, .813)...

• Since their league debut in 2007, the Aggies have posted 42 Big West Conference victories -- tied with Cal Poly for second among league members behind only perennial power UC Santa Barbara (59).