THIS WEEK…
MATCH 6: UC Davis (1-2-2) at CSU Bakersfield (1-4)
Thursday, Sept. 15, 2016
7:00 p.m.
Bakersfield, Calif.
CSUB Main Soccer Field
Game Coverage: Live Stats | Video | UC Davis Notes | CSUB Men's Soccer

MATCH 7: Portland (4-1-1) at UC Davis (1-2-2)
Sunday, Sept. 18, 2016
3:00 p.m.
Davis, Calif.
Aggie Soccer Field
Game Coverage: Live Stats | Video | Portland Men's Soccer

OPENING WHISTLE: The UC Davis men's soccer team (1-2-2 overall) closes out its season-long five-match road trip this Thursday (Sept. 15) at 7 p.m., heading south for the second straight week to meet CSU Bakersfield. The Aggies then return to the friendly confines of their home field on Sunday (Sept. 18), hosting Portland in a 3 p.m. matinee.

IN THE POLLS: Neither UC Davis, nor CSU Bakersfield, are ranked nationally entering this week's matches. Portland, meanwhile, enters the week receiving four votes in the most recent NSCAA coaches poll, and stands fifth in the Far West region rankings.

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.

BAKERSFIELD BRIEFLY: The Roadrunners enter the week with a 1-4 overall record, having lost four straight following a 3-1 win over Sacramento State to open the season... Three of the team's four losses have come in overtime, including both contests in a tournament at New Mexico last week against the host Lobos (1-0) and Missouri State (1-0)... Forward Julian Zamora leads the team with two of the squad's four goals, while Jamie Carey-Morrell and Louis Lapouge have also found the back of the net... Senior Nicolas Clever has played all 479 minutes in net for CSUB, posting a 1.13 goals against average and 21 saves in five starts this season.

VERSUS THE ROADRUNNERS: Bakersfield leads the all-time series, 10-6-3, according to records that date back to 1992, posting a 3-1-2 mark in the last six meetings between the two programs... UC Davis' only win in that series was a 2-1 double overtime victory on Sept. 13, 2014... The win two years ago was the Aggies' first in Bakersfield dating back to 1992, going 0-6-2 in their previous eight trips... The last two meetings have been decided by a single goal, with only one in the last five contests decided by two-or-more goals.

PORTLAND BRIEFLY: After dropping its opener to Wright State (2-1), Portland has reeled off an unbeaten run of five straight matches, including tournament titles at its own Nike Portland Invitational and the Evansville Tournament last week, drawing with the host Aces and shutting out Bradley... The Pilots travel to Sacramento State on Thursday (Sept. 15) before hosting the Aggies... Jackson Jellah and Erik Edwardson share the team lead with three goals apiece, while Jellah paces the squad with eight points and 16 shots... Paul Christensen has played every minute in net for Portland, posting a 1.11 goals against average and 17 saves with a pair of shutouts in six matches.

VERSUS THE PILOTS: Portland is unbeaten in the three all-time meetings with UC Davis, 2-0-1, but the two programs haven't met since 2013... The Pilots have won the last two by a single goal, posting a 2-1 overtime triumph in 2010, and a 1-0 victory in 2013 -- both in Portland... The Aggies battled the Pilots to a 3-3 draw in the first meeting in 2007.

WELCOME TO THE WCC?: The Aggies may be able to apply for membership in the West Coast Conference as they will face six of the league's eight men's soccer playing members -- missing only Gonzaga and Santa Clara -- continuing with this week match against Portland on Sunday. According to records that date back to 1990, UC Davis is a combined 9-13-8 against WCC opponents, having its nine-match unbeaten streak (4-0-5) snapped against league members with its loss at San Francisco on Sept. 4. Prior to that, the Aggies' last defeat to a WCC member was at San Diego on Sept. 20, 2013.

SHOT IN THE ARM: The UC Davis offense took it to the LMU defense in the team's Southern California finale, unleashing a barrage of 20 shots against the Lions to set a new season high. It marked the fourth time in the last five matches that the Aggies reached double digits, posting their highest single-match total since they finished with 22 against CSUN on Oct. 8, 2015, and the most on the road since they had 26 at Sacramento State on Oct. 25, 2014.

MINUTE MEN: It's been tough to get senior Dashiell MacNamara and sophomore Roy Boateng off the field this season as the duo are the only two players who have gone the distance in each of the team's first five matches of the 2016 campaign. The 490 minutes continues an impressive run for Boateng, who has played every minute of every match for the Aggies since coming off the bench and playing 13 minutes in last year's season opener against Seattle -- a total of 2505:12 entering this week's contests.

DE-FENSE (CLAP, CLAP)... REPEAT: The UC Davis defense has pitched a shutout in three of its first five contests to kick-off the 2016 season -- the best run since 2012 when the Aggies opened with three-straight shutouts and a 1-0-4 record in their first five matches that year. The scoreless draw at San Diego last week was the second such result for UC Davis this season and gave the team three clean sheets on the year -- the most since the 2014 squad posted seven shutouts.

NO GOALS FOR YOU... OR YOU: The Aggies' scoreless draw at San Diego marked the 12th such result in the program's Division I history, and the second of the year after UC Davis and San Jose State did so in the season opener.

THE OFFENSE, MEANWHILE...: While the Aggies' defense has kept them in matches thus far, the offense has hit a bit of a bump in the road, having not scored a goal (save for an own goal against San Francisco) since the 18th minute of a 2-0 shutout at Pacific on Sept. 1 -- extending a run of nearly 273 minutes without a goal by a UC Davis player.

SHOTS, SHOTS, SHOTS: Sophomore Kristian Heptner set a new season-high with five shot attempts at Loyola Marymount on Sunday, leading the team in that category for the fourth consecutive contest and increasing his team lead to 15 shots on the year -- junior teammate Noah Wilson is second with seven.

BIG TIME IN THE BIG WEST: Heptner's quick start has him among the Big West leaders five matches in, standing tied for third in shots and shots per game (3.00), tied for ninth in points (4) and points per game (0.80), and tied for fourth in goals.

QUE-"NADA" IN NET: Senior goalkeeper Armando Quezada logged his third shutout of the season last week at San Diego, giving him 10 for his career and putting him just one back of Ryan McCowan (2007-10) for fifth on the progam's all-time list. Quezada is also 10 saves shy of 100 for his career, and would join McCowan (166) and Omar Zeenni (220), who also holds the career shutout record with 18, as the only goalkeepers in the program's Division I history to reach the century mark.

HE'S A KEEPER: Quezada enters the week leading the Big West with a 0.81 goals against average and three shutouts, while standing second with a .733 save percentage through five matches. The Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., native also stands seventh in saves (11) and eighth in saves per game (2.20).

LAPSLEY MAKES HIS DEBUT: Redshirt freshman Wallis Lapsley entered in the second half of Sunday's contest at Loyola Marymount and pitched a shutout in his 45 minutes of play, logging three saves while holding the Lions off the board.

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 10 wins shy No. 200 for his Division I coaching career, carrying a 190-157-49 record in 20 seasons -- 183 of those coming in his 19-plus years at UC Davis -- when you include his one year at Dayton. Overall, Shaffer has accumulated a total of 242 wins as a head coach at UC Davis (19 years), Dayton (one year), and Santa Rosa JC (four years).

TWO FOR THE WIN: A 2-0 win over the Tigers gave the Aggies their 10th straight win when scoring two (or more) goals dating back to a, 3-2, overtime defeat at the hands of Sacramento State on Nov. 1, 2014.

OH NO, NOT OT: In what has, seemingly, become a regular occurance, better than half of UC Davis' 46 matches over the last two-plus seasons have gone past the regulation 90 minutes, as the Aggies have played 24 overtime contests in that span -- with 19 of those 24 going to double overtime -- posting a 6-4-14 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 single-season record) at the time, while the 14 overtime contests overall that same season were a new NCAA record.

#AGGIESINTHEPROS: Former UC Davis men's soccer standouts shining on the professional stage include: Quincy Amarikwa (San Jose Earthquakes/MLS), Matt Sheldon (OC Blues/USL), Elliott Hord (Sacramento Republic FC/USL), Kris Schultz (Canterbury United FC/New Zealand ASB Premiership), Matt Wiesenfarth (Canterbury United FC/New Zealand ASB Premiership), Ahmad Hatifie (C.D. Aguiluchos USA/NPSL), and Ramon Martin Del Campo (FC Puerto Rico/NASL).

RECYCLED NOTES
WEEKLY HONORS FOR BOATENG: Spearheading a defense that held the Spartans to just one shot on goal, sophomore Roy Boateng was named the Big West Conference Defensive Player of the Week on Aug. 29 for the first time in his career. Boateng became the first UC Davis weekly honoree since Lucas Mohageg (offensive) and Brian Ford (defensive) swept the weekly awards on Oct. 20, 2014.

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 play. UC Davis has lost three of its top four scorers, bringing back just over half of its 29 goals. 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.

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 99-47-21 (.656) at home in 19-plus 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).

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.