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Game 11
 
UC Davis Aggies (6-3-1, 0-0 BWC)
at
Cal Poly Mustangs (4-4-1, 0-0 BWC)

Wednesday, Oct. 9 – 7 p.m.
Alex G. Spanos Stadium (11,075) – San Luis Obispo, Calif.  
 
Video
Live Stats
Tickets
 
Game 12
 
CSUN Matadors (5-4-1, 0-0 BWC)
at
UC Davis Aggies

Saturday, Oct. 12 – 1 p.m.
Aggie Soccer Field (1,000) – Davis, Calif. 
 
Video
Live Stats
Tickets
 
Promotions
Two Games, One Ticket: Anyone who has a ticket for Saturday's 4 p.m. home football game against Cal Poly will receive free admission for men's soccer's 1 p.m. game versus CSUN. One ticket is good for Saturday fútbol AND football
 
Parent and Family Weekend: Following UC Davis' match against CSUN, head over to UC Davis Health Stadium to enjoy football's Battle for the Golden Horseshoe, against Cal Poly. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m., purchase your tickets for that event by clicking here.
 
Wrap up Homecoming Weekend by returning to Aggie Soccer Field to cheer on women's soccer when it hosts Cal Poly in a 2 p.m. Big West Conference match.
 

DAVIS, Calif. – The battle for this year's Big West championship will begin this week for every league team; UC Davis' journey will start in Wednesday's 7 p.m. conference opener at Cal Poly — the last game of a program-long road swing.
 
Three days later, the Aggies will compete in their first home contest since Sept. 8, when they defeated No. 25 Air Force, and host CSUN in the team's Big West home opener. Kickoff at Aggie Soccer Field is set for 1 p.m.
 
SCOUTING CAL POLY
For the second straight season, UC Davis and Cal Poly will open league play against one another. In last year's matchup, both teams exited Aggie Soccer Field with a 1-1 tie.
 
This year, it is the Aggies' turn to hit the road as they will visit San Luis Obispo for its Big West opener and seek their second straight victory at Alex G. Spanos Stadium. The home of Cal Poly soccer has treated UC Davis well in recent years since it won two matches, tied another pair and only lost once since the 2013 season. The Aggies have also fared well in Big West openers since the '13 season, and hold a 4-1-1 mark in their inaugural league matchup.
 
Following its three-game win streak, which includes victories versus Fresno Pacific, Gonzaga, and Westmont, Cal Poly ended its non-conference schedule by going 1-2-1. Following its 2-1 home loss to Seattle, the Mustangs rebounded by defeating No. 24 LMU 2-1 in overtime.
 
Recent weeks featured an anomaly for the Mustangs since it played consecutive road games for the first time since the opening week of the season. Following a scoreless draw at San Francisco, CP lost 3-1 at UCSB in its designated non-conference rivalry game.
 
Compared to UC Davis, a team that will end a program-long seven-game road swing in San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly has seven road games scheduled throughout its entire season.
 
Series Record: Cal Poly leads 14-13-2
Last Cal Poly Win: 10/18/17 — 3-2 (OT) at Aggie Soccer Field
Last UC Davis Win: 10/25/17 — 2-1 at Cal Poly
Last Five Results: T (2OT), W, L (OT), L (OT), L
 
SCOUTING CSUN
The long wait is finally over for UC Davis men's soccer fans because after a month-long hiatus, it will finally compete at Aggie Soccer Field when CSUN visits for the team's Big West home opener. In addition to playing on its home turf for the first time since Sept. 8, when they defeated No. 25 Air Force, 2-0, program alums will return home to cheer on the Aggies since Saturday's game doubles as the team's Alumni Day.
 
Since joining the Big West Conference in 2007, men's soccer is 6-4-2 in its conference home openers. As is the case with its record in recent Big West openers, UC Davis fans often departed campus on a positive note since the team is 3-1-2 in its first home match against a BWC team.
 
If the Aggies want to improve this record, they need to minimize the number of clean looks at goal from senior forward Johnny Rodriguez and junior forward Daniel Trejo, who lead the team with eight and seven goals respectively. Combined, the duo is responsible for 15 of the Matadors' 23 goals (65 pct. of the team's offense) and rank No. 1 and No. 2 in total points with 19 and 18.
 
Following its strong start to the season — CSUN won four of its first five games with the exception ending in a 2-2 tie — it dropped four of the following five, with a 2-1 win in overtime, at Omaha, serving as the team's lone win throughout that timespan.
 
The Matadors will also open league play Wednesday night when it hosts Cal State Fullerton.

Series Record: UC Davis leads 10-8-5
Last CSUN Win: 10/6/18 — 3-0 at CSUN
Last UC Davis Win: 10/31/18 — 3-2 at CSUN
Last Five Results: W, L, W, T (2OT), L

THAT SOUND YOU HEAR ARE STREAKS SNAPPING
When UC Davis visited Saint Mary's Stadium to face the #6 Gaels on Sept. 26, it competed against a team that held a 31-game overall unbeaten streak — the ninth-longest all-time in NCAA Division I history.
 
Thanks to four goals after halftime — the Aggies' offensive outburst started with Whalen Shinn's goal in the 51st minute, continued with Kristian Heptner's brace when he scored in 70th and 81st minutes, and Andy Velasquez' game-winner in the 76th minute — UC Davis snapped SMC's overall streak, and its 26-game unbeaten streak at home with a 4-2 victory.
 
In defeating then-No. 6 Saint Mary's by a 4-2 score, the result matched the highest-ranked opponent the Aggies defeated in the program's Division I history (No. 6 UCLA, Sept. 4, 2011).
 
TRUE STUDENT-ATHLETES
As ambassadors for the No. 5-ranked public school in the nation, UC Davis student-athletes take great pride in succeeding in the classroom, on the field and in the community. Majors for this year's roster include:
 
Biological Sciences: Max Glasser, Kaleb Schirmacher
Biomedical Engineering: Kristian Heptner
Chemical Engineering: Wumi Aladetimi, Grant Fidler
Civil Engineering: Jacob Rudolph
Design: Kameron Carey
Environmental Science & Management: Whalen Shinn
Global Disease Biology: Wallis Lapsley
Human Development: Sean Cooper
Managerial Economics: Jye Citizen, Marte Formico, Nabi Kibunguchy, Connor Tipton
Neurobiology, Physiology & Behavior: Emmanuel Doherty, Jake Haupt
Political Science: Luke Hazel
Sociology: Adam Mickelson
Sociology – Organizational Studies: Luke Giusto
Statistics: Dylan Wood
Undeclared: Max Arfsten, Sean Bilter, Derrek Chan, Ryan Dieter, Turner Humphrey, Charles Janssen, Robert Mejia, Andy Velasquez, Tim Weidinger
 
THE GREAT WALL OF DAVIS
That is what the Aggies' defense should be called, and rightfully so, for the way it played throughout its non-conference games. Entering Wednesday's league opener at Cal Poly, UC Davis allowed a league-low nine goals to opponents throughout its first 10 matches.
 
QUICK KICKS

• UC Davis will enter this week's league games ranked No. 7, in the Far West region, by the United Soccer Coaches
• No Big West active player has more career assists than senior forward Adam Mickelson and his 16
• Mickelson's 34 career points is the third-highest total among all BWC players
• Senior goalkeeper Wallis Lapsley leads all league netminders with 28 career wins and is No. 2 with 182 career saves
• Lapsley's 15 career shutouts is also the second-highest total among all active BWC goalkeepers
• Lapsley is No. 2, among all Big West goalkeepers this season with his .791 save percentage and No. 5 with 34 saves
• He is also tied for third with three shutouts
• Senior forward Kristian Heptner is playing outstanding soccer, and scored three goals throughout the team's last two games
• Following his brace at No. 6 Saint Mary's, which helped the Aggies snap the Gaels' overall and home unbeaten streaks, his free kick in overtime, at Sacramento State, was the game-winning shot
• That game-winner was Heptner's first since the 2016, and the fourth of his career
• Men's soccer's originally scheduled eight-game road trip is the longest in program history, and the most consecutive road games since the team played five in a row early in the 2016 season
• This streak of consecutive road matches was cut to seven when severe thunderstorms forced game officials to cancel the Aggies' Sept. 29 game at Oregon State
• The previous record for the most consecutive road games was five games, which took place in 2016 and 2010
• UC Davis will play more road games on it current swing than Cal State Fullerton (6) for the ENTIRE season
• Due to the events that took place in Corvallis on Sept. 29, UC Davis' current streak of road games matches Cal Poly's total for the ENTIRE season
• CSUN, UC Riverside and UC Santa Barbara each have eight road games on their 2019 schedules
• By posting back-to-back shutouts against CSU Bakersfield and No. 25 Air Force, on Sept. 6 and Sept. 8 respectively, senior goalkeeper Wallis Lapsley earned Big West Defensive Player of the Week for the third time in his career, as announced on Sept. 9 by league officials
• In addition to receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches Poll, the Aggies were one of five teams in the country that received votes in Top Drawer Soccer's national poll following the Aggies' home sweep against then-No. 25 Air Force and CSU Bakersfield
• Thanks to victories collected against the Roadrunners and Falcons, UC Davis won this year's Copa de Causeway — a yearly tournament that features the Aggies, Sacramento State, and two visiting teams
• Earning all-tournament honors were four Aggies: senior goalkeeper Wallis Lapsley, senior midfielder Marte Formico, junior midfielder/defender Nabi Kibunguchy and sophomore defender Max Glasser
• Talk about making a memorable first impression: In his first home game an Aggie, redshirt freshman forward scored his first collegiate goal, a game-winner, against CSU Bakersfield
• Results earned during the opening week of the 2019 season, combined with the team's last five results of the '18 campaign, means that UC Davis entered its home opener on a seven-game unbeaten streak — one that extended to nine matches before San Diego ended that run on Sept. 13
• By opening the 2019 season with a 2-0 win at Wisconsin, the Aggies now sport a 2-0 head-to-head record against the Badgers
• As one of a handful of teams that received votes, Wisconsin opened the season among the teams featured in the United Soccer Coaches' inaugural national poll of the season
• The Aggies 2015 result against Wisconsin, which took place at Aggie Soccer Field, marked the team's last win versus a Power Five opponent
• UC Davis also opened 2018 with a win in its season opener (at Omaha) following by a scoreless tie two days later (at Creighton)
• In his 13th season as the Aggies' head coach, Dwayne Shaffer's tenure is the second-longest in the Big West, trailing only Terry Davila (CSUN) and Tim Vom Steeg — two coaches that spent the last 21 and 20 years at their respective schools
• No Big West team won more overall games throughout the last two seasons (2017 and '18) than UC Davis
• The Aggies advanced to the championship game of the Big West Tournament in each of the last two years

 
WHERE UC DAVIS RANKS
As of Oct. 7, the Aggies held the following top-50 NCAA rankings:

Team
Fouls Per Game: 24th, 10.40
Goals Against Average: 26th, .782

Individuals
Wallis Lapsley - Goals Against Average: 29th, .795
 
UC DAVIS VS. THE BIG WEST
Entering this week's schedule, UC Davis holds the following league rankings:

Team
Shots: 5th, 137
Points: T-6th, 39
Goals: T-5th, 15
Goals Per Game: 4th, 1.50
Assists: 8th, 9
Assists Per Game: 8th, 0.90
Goals Allowed: T-1st, 9
Goals Against Average: 2nd, 0.88
Saves: T-4th, 35
Shutouts: T-3rd, 3
Fouls: 8th, 118
Corners: T-3rd, 51
Offsides: 1st, 30
 
Individuals
Shots: Adam Mickelson – 7th, 27
Shots Per Game: Adam Mickelson — 7th, 2.70
Assists: Adam Mickelson – T-6th, 3
Assists Per Game: Adam Mickelson – T-10th, 0.30
Goals Against Average: Wallis Lapsley — 2nd, 0.89
Save Percentage: Wallis Lapsley – 2nd, .791
Saves: Wallis Lapsley – T-5th, 34
Saves Per Game: Wallis Lapsley — 4th, 3.40
Shutouts: Wallis Lapsley — T-3rd, 3
Shutouts Per Game: Wallis Lapsley — 3rd, 0.30

BREAKING DOWN THE NUMBERS
This season, UC Davis holds the following records when broken down by the following categories:
 
6-3-1 overall

2-0 at home
4-3-1 on the road
0-0 in neutral site matches

3-1 against ranked opponents/opponents receiving votes
2-3-1 in shutouts

2-2 in games decided by one goal
4-1 in games decided by two goals
0-0 in games decided by three or more goals

1-0 in overtime
0-0-1 in double overtime

3-0 when UC Davis scores first
3-3 when opponents score first

2-0 leading at halftime
2-2 trailing at halftime
2-1-1 tied at halftime

5-3-1 when the Aggies outshoot opponents
0-0 when opponents outshoot the Aggies
1-0 equal number of shots

2-1-1 when the Aggies record more saves
3-2 when opponents record more saves
1-0 equal number of saves

2-1 when the Aggies take more corner kicks
3-1-1 when opponents take more corner kicks
1-1 equal number of corner kicks

4-1 when the Aggies commit more fouls
2-2-1 when opponents commit more fouls
0-0 equal number of fouls committed
 
AGGIES SEEK THIRD-STRAIGHT TRIP TO BIG WEST TOURNAMENT'S TITLE GAME
UC Davis soccer is one of the top teams in the Big West Conference, as evident by the amount of success the program enjoyed in recent seasons. Entering the 2019 season, no league team won more games throughout the last two seasons than the Aggies and their 22.
 
In each of the last two years, men's soccer advanced to the championship game of the conference's year-end tournament.
 
KIBUNGUCHY NAMED TO NATIONAL TEAM OF THE WEEK
UC Davis enjoyed a strong start to the season, and the play of its backline was a key reason why men's soccer defeated Wisconsin, a team that was listed in the inaugural national poll of the year, and Marquette, a tough Big East team.
 
Anchoring the team's defense throughout those challenging tests was junior midfielder/defender Nabi Kibunguchy, which is why College Soccer News selected the Elk Grove native to its National Team of the Week on Sept. 2
 
Kibunguchy also posted a game-high four shots against the Golden Eagles, and generated the Aggies' most dangerous scoring opportunities that afternoon.

KIBUNGUCHY EARNS PRESEASON ACCOLADES ONCE AGAIN
Junior midfielder Nabi Kibunguchy earned preseason honored for the second year in a row when Big West head coaches selected the Elk Grove, Calif. native to the All-Big West Conference Preseason Team.
 
Kibunguchy was one of 11 players to earn this accolade.
 
The Aug. 22 announcement was the latest honor for Kibunguchy, who was named one of the top 100 upperclassmen by Top Drawer Soccer earlier this year.
 
SIX WILL ENTER, ONLY ONE WILL BECOME CHAMPION
The 2019 Big West Men's Soccer Tournament will take place from Nov. 6-16, with six teams battling for the league's postseason championship and automatic berth at the NCAA Tournament.
 
The top two seeds, based on the regular season standings, will earn a bye, with the remaining four teams squaring off in the opening round. The higher seeds for each matchup will host respective games.
 
First Round action is set for November 6; semifinal matchups will face one another on November 9. Semifinal winners will advance to the championship game, which is scheduled for November 16.
 


AGGIE EVO
Established during the 2017-18 academic year, 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.
 
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, 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.