THIS WEEK...
MATCH 10: UC Davis (4-3-2, 0-0-0) at CSUN (3-4-1, 0-0-0)
Thursday, Sept. 29, 2016
7:00 p.m.
Matador Soccer Field
Northridge, Calif.
Game Coverage: Live Stats | Video | UC Davis Notes | CSUN Men's Soccer

MATCH 11: UC Davis (4-3-2, 0-0-0) at UC Irvine (2-7, 0-0-0)
Saturday, Oct. 1, 2016
7:00 p.m.
Anteater Stadium
Irvine, Calif.
Game Coverage: Live Stats | UC Irvine Men's Soccer

OPENING WHISTLE: After wrapping up non-conference play during last week's "Copa de Causeway," the UC Davis men's soccer team turns its attention to the Big West Conference beginning this week, heading to Southern California for its league openers. The Aggies take on CSUN on Thursday (Sept. 29) in Northridge, before heading to Orange County to battle UC Irvine on Saturday (Oct. 1). Both matches are scheduled for 7 p.m. kick offs at their respective sites.

IN THE POLLS: Neither UC Davis, CSUN, nor UC Irvine, are ranked among the nation's top 25 entering this week's contests.

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.

CSUN BRIEFLY: The Matadors enter the week with a 3-4-1 overall record, posting a 1-1 draw with San Diego and a 4-1 win over CSU Bakersfield... Of its eight matches, CSUN has only played two at home this season, posting a, 2-1, season-opening win over Tulsa to go with its draw against the Toreros last week... Sophomore forward Nicholas Grinde leads the Matadors with three goals and seven points this season, while senior midfielder Juan Samayoa has chipped in a pair of scores and two assists... Senior goalkeeper Kevin Marquez has played every minute in net, posting a 1.44 goals against average and 40 saves.

VERSUS THE MATADORS: UC Davis leads the all-time series with CSUN, 8-6-4, and is unbeaten in the last three meetings (1-0-2)... The Aggies eliminated the Matadors from last year's Big West Conference Tournament with a 2-1 win in overtime in Northridge... Prior to UC Davis' unbeaten run, CSUN had won three straight... Dating back to 2005, the Aggies are 4-3-4 against the Matadors in Northridge... Seven meetings between the two programs have been decided in overtime.

UC IRVINE BRIEFLY: The Anteaters enter the week with a 2-7 overall record and will host Sacramento State on Thursday, before welcoming the Aggies to town for Saturday's clash... UC Irvine, just 1-3 at home this season, split its two contests last week, defeating Oregon State on the road to snap a four-match losing streak before falling, 4-1, to Portland on Sunday... Junior midfielder Giovanni Godoy leads the team in scoring with a pair of goals while junior midfielder Mario Ortiz and sophomore midfielder Luis Leon share the team lead along with Godoy at four points apiece... Senior goalkeeper Elliot Farmer has seen the majority of time in net, posting a 2.08 goals against average and 27 saves in seven matches.

VERSUS THE ANTEATERS: UC Irvine holds a slim, 9-8-3, advantage in the series with UC Davis... The Aggies snapped a two-match skid against the Anteaters with a 2-1 overtime win at home last season, and have won four of the last six meetings overall... UC Davis and UCI have gone to overtime eight times according to series records that date back to 1992, with the Aggies holding a, 4-1-3, advantage in those contests... UC Davis is just, 4-7-2, against Irvine in Orange County, having lost its last two trips to Southern California.

BIG WEST... FOR OPENERS: The Aggies are 4-4-1 in Big West Conference openers dating back to their league debut in 2007... UC Davis has won its last three Big West openers dating back to a 2-0 loss at CSUN in 2012, posting wins over No. 25 UC Irvine (2-0) in 2013, Cal State Fullerton (3-1) in 2014, and UC Riverside (2-0) last season... Thursday marks the seventh time in 10 Big West openers that the Aggies will begin the conference schedule on the road... UC Davis has twice opened conference play against CSUN, but 2016 will be the first in four seasons, with the Matadors posting wins of 3-0 in 2011 in Davis and 2-0 in 2012 at Northridge... The Aggies are 2-3-1 in league openers on the road, snapping a two-match skid with a 2-0 shutout of UC Riverside last season... UC Davis has been outscored, 14-11, in Big West openers all-time, but holds a 7-1 lead on the scoreboard during its current winning streak, including a pair of shutouts... The Aggies have played to overtime in a conference opener three times, but not since 2010 when UC Davis fell in double overtime, 2-1, at UC Santa Barbara.

CONGRATS ARE IN ORDER: Senior defender Dashiell MacNamara and sophomore defender Roy Boateng were named to the "Copa de Causeway" All-Tournament Team following their performances last week.

EXTRA EFFORT: With Chase Rhode's first career goal as an Aggie lifting UC Davis to a 2-1 win over Saint Mary's last week, the Aggies remained unbeaten in overtime this season (1-0-2) and are unbeaten in their last nine OT contests (4-0-5) dating back to last season. UC Davis hasn't lost an overtime decision since falling 2-1 in double OT at San Jose State last year on Sept. 16.

RHODE TO VICTORY: The junior's goal to beat the Gaels last week was not only the first of Chase Rhode's UC Davis career, but also the first of his college career after being held off the scoresheet in his two seasons at Wake Forest prior to his arrival in Davis.

PENALTY PERFECT: Junior Noah Wilson's successful penalty that tied the match last week against Saint Mary's kept the Aggies' perfect record intact in that category, improving UC Davis to 3-for-3 in penalty kicks this season (sophomore Kristian Heptner has the other two). The Aggies are a combined 18-for-26 (.692) in penalty kicks during the program's Division I Era, while the three makes from the spot this season stand second only to the five made (in six attempts) during the 2007 campaign in that span.

STINGY: The eight goals allowed by the UC Davis defense are the fewest in the Big West Conference entering the start of league play and stand tied for the second-fewest allowed by the Aggies (alongside the 2013 team) through the first nine matches of the season since the 2014 squad allowed only seven goals.

LAST MAN STANDING: When teammate Dashiell MacNamara came off the field in the second half against No. 18 Utah Valley on Sept. 24, it left sophomore Roy Boateng as the only Aggie to play in every minute this season... all 854:31 of them. It continues an impressive trend for Boateng, who has played every minute of every match for UC Davis since coming off the bench and playing 13 minutes in the 2015 season opener at Seattle, continuing an "Ironman" streak that has reached 2,869 minutes and 43 seconds entering this week's contests.

SWEEP THE LEG: UC Davis has been seeing yellow this season, drawing the ire of officials en route to the dubious honor of an NCAA-leading 27 yellow cards through the first nine matches, leading Fort Wayne by two, and giving the Big West Conference two schools in the top five in that category (UC Santa Barbara is tied for fourth with 22).

THE WHOLE WORLD, IN HIS HANDS: With his seven saves last week against Saint Mary's and Utah Valley, senior goalkeeper Armando Quezada now has a combined 103 for his career, making him only the third goalkeeper in the program's Division I history to eclipse the century mark in that category along with Omar Zeenni (220 from 2010-13) and Ryan McCowan (166 from 2007-10).

QUE-"NADA" IN NET: The white-washing of Portland on Sept. 18 marked senior goalkeeper Armando Quezada's fourth shutout of the season against the Pilots, giving him 11 for his career and moving him into a tie with Ryan McCowan (2007-10) for fifth on the progam's all-time list.

HE'S A KEEPER: Quezada enters the week leading the Big West with a 0.89 goals against average and four shutouts, while standing fourth with a .750 save percentage through nine matches. The Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., native also stands sixth in saves (24) and seventh with 2.67 saves per game.

BIG TIME IN THE BIG WEST: Sophomore Kristian Heptner remains among the Big West Conference's best in numerous categories entering the week, standing second in shots (23), fourth in shots per game (2.56), tied for ninth in points (6), tied for seventh in goals (3), tied for eighth in goals per game (0.33), and tied for second in game-winning goals (2).

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 seven wins shy No. 200 for his Division I coaching career, carrying a 193-158-49 (.544) record in 20 seasons -- 186 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 245 wins as a head coach at UC Davis (19 years), Dayton (one year), and Santa Rosa JC (four years).

DE-FENSE (CLAP, CLAP)... REPEAT: The Aggies' 1-0 win over Portland on Sept. 18 gave the Aggies their fourth shutout of the season -- surpassing last year's total of three, and posting the highest number since the 2014 squad posted seven clean sheets in 20 matches.

OH NO, NOT OT: In what has, seemingly, become a regular occurance, half of UC Davis' 50 matches over the last two-plus seasons have gone past the regulation 90 minutes, as the Aggies have played 25 overtime contests in that span -- with 19 of those 25 going to double overtime -- posting a 7-4-14 mark. A regular result during that time, 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.

TWO FOR THE WIN: A 2-1 overtime win over Saint Mary's on Sept. 22 gave the Aggies their 12th straight win when scoring two (or more) goals dating back to a, 3-2 (OT), defeat at the hands of Sacramento State on Nov. 1, 2014.

#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).