DAVIS, Calif. — Junior statistics major
Dylan Wood scored his second goal of the season late Wednesday night to stake No. 16 UC Davis to a one-goal lead, but visiting Cal Poly would equalize three minutes later and the two rivals would finish in a 1-1 draw at Aggie Soccer Field to open Big West Conference play.
The Aggies move to 7-1-3 overall and 0-0-1 in Big West play with the result, as the two programs battled into overtime for the seventh time in the last 11 meetings. Wednesday marked the second straight overtime match for UC Davis — and the fourth overall this season — as it moved to 1-0-3 in extra time in 2018.
Coming off a rivalry win over UC Santa Barbara, the Mustangs moved to 4-4-2 overall and 0-0-1 in league play.
"I thought my team played extremely well," Head Coach
Dwayne Shaffer said. "I thought we showed a ton of character, a ton of fight. We were at home, we tried to win the game, we were pushing extremely hard. We played extremely well."
Wood's score finished off a nifty sequence from teammates
Kameron Carey and
Justin Wright, the former sending a ball down the right side that was run on to by Wright, who lofted a ball to the near post. That's where Wood was waiting, getting a step on his defender and snapping a header to the right post for the 1-0 lead.
For Carey, a design major from Lakewood, Wash., the assist marked his first career point, while Wright, a political science major from Los Angeles and the reigning Big West Offensive Player of the Week, tallied his second helper of the season.
Cal Poly wasted little time in tying the score, finding the back of the net four minutes later. A ball put into the box was punched out by goalkeeper
Wallis Lapsley, but fell right to the feet of Sean Goode, who spun and fired a right-footed shot back toward an empty net on the right side to tie the score.
"We did everything everything necessary to win the game," Shaffer said. "I'm a little disappointed on the goal we gave up, but we scored a great goal and almost scored another identical to it a few minutes later. Maybe we were a little out of balance at the end to give up a goal like that, however, I thought my guys played extremely well."
Both teams had early chances go by the wayside early in quiet first overtime, while junior managerial economics major
Marte Formico had a header go wide at the back post with just over a minute remaining in the second overtime.
UC Davis finished with a, 16-9, advantage in shots on the day — including an 8-2 lead in an opening half that saw Mustang goalkeeper Simon Boehme make three saves to keep the Aggies off the board. He stopped junior sociology major
Adam Mickelson on a header inside the six, while senior managerial economics major
Roy Boateng and Wright were also turned away midway through the opening period.
The best chance for either team in the first 45 minutes came off the foot the Mustangs' Reagan Rice, who rang a shot off the left post in the 42nd minute that would have given Cal Poly the lead.
Big West play continues on the road on Saturday (Oct. 6) for UC Davis, which travels to CSUN for a 7 p.m. kick off in Northridge, Calif.
DON'T MISS OUT!
The ninth-annual UC Davis Athletics Brewfest takes place as part of the October 13 Homecoming football game against Idaho State... Tickets for the Brewfest plus the Aggies-Bengals game are now on sale at https://bit.ly/2ooveDI... The Brewfest celebrates UC Davis as the No. 1 academic brewing program in North America... The ticket package includes unlimited tastings at the UC Davis Brewfest, a commemorative tasting mug, and a ticket to the game.
ABOUT UC DAVIS
Providing a small-town community feel while providing a world-class academic experience, UC Davis is home to more than 37,000 students and centrally located between San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, and the Napa Valley. The No. 5-ranked public university in the nation according to the Wall Street Journal and Times Higher Education, and among the top 10 public universities nationwide according to U.S. News and World Report, UC Davis offers nearly 100 graduate programs and more than 100 academic majors across four colleges and six professional schools, ranking among the world and nation's best in numerous disciplines, including veterinary science, agriculture, and plant and animal programs.
AGGIE EVO
Launched in 2017-18, the Aggie EVO System is UC Davis Athletics' investment in the primary mission of preparing student-athletes for a successful "launch" after graduation. Thanks to a collaboration of alumni, university resources, corporate partners, coaches and Student-Athlete Outcomes staff, all Aggies are guided over four years to acquire the skills, knowledge, opportunities and tools to better know and navigate the "World of Work" after graduating from UC Davis. Follow the Aggie EVO system on Twitter and Instagram at @AggieEVO.
