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NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament
Winner of Thursday's Louisville-South Florida game
at
No. 14 UC Davis Aggies
Sunday, Nov. 24 – 1 p.m.
Aggie Soccer Field – Davis, Calif.
Official Bracket |
Tickets |
Watch the Division I Selection Show
DAVIS, Calif. – By winning its first Big West Conference Tournament title last Friday vs. UC Santa Barbara, UC Davis (the league's regular season champions) earned an automatic bid for this year's NCAA Tournament. On Monday, the NCAA Selection Committee rewarded the Aggies for their successful season, and for possessing one of the top RPIs in the nation, during Monday's Division I Men's Soccer Tournament Selection Show.
As the NCAA Tournament's No. 14 seed, UC Davis earned a First Round bye and will host the winner of Thursday's South Florida at Louisville matchup in Sunday's 1 p.m. Second Round game — the inaugural Division I NCAA Tournament event hosted at Aggie Soccer Field.
This is the fourth time in program history, and the third time in its Division I era, that UC Davis advanced to the NCAA Tournament. In addition to their appearance in 1999, when the Aggies qualified for the Division II quarterfinals, men's soccer earned postseason berths in 2007 and 2008.
That 2007 appearance marked the first playoff berth for any UC Davis Athletics program since joining the Big West Conference, which took place in the summer of '07. Men's soccer traveled to No. 17 California for that season's First Round game.
In 2008, the Aggies advanced to the NCAA Tournament's Second Round and faced No. 14 Michigan on its home field.
"The biggest thing for me [about Monday's announcement by the NCAA] is that we are guaranteed to host a Tournament game, which is think is a phenomenal opportunity for us. We are a great team at home and we love our facility," said head coach
Dwayne Shaffer.
"We had a great crowd when we hosted UC Santa Barbara last week. Having all of those Aggie fans supporting us was a huge boost for this team. We cannot wait to compete in front of our fans again this Sunday."
UC Davis is 7-0-1 at Aggie Soccer Field this season.
Louisville qualified for its fourth straight NCAA Tournament appearance with an 8-7-2 overall record and was one of 10 ACC teams included in this year's field.
South Florida received its first Tournament invitation since 2016, and will face the Cardinals for the second time this year. On Sept. 9, the Bulls recorded a 2-0 victory over then-No. 5 Louisville.
UC Davis has never faced South Florida. The Aggies played Louisville once before, a 1-0 loss in overtime in 2008.
Led by Big West Coach of the Year
Dwayne Shaffer and Big West Goalkeeper of the Year
Wallis Lapsley, 10 Aggies earned all-conference accolades when league officials announced this year's honor roll.
Senior forward
Adam Mickelson, junior defender
Nabi Kibunguchy and Lapsley each earned First Team recognition; senior midfielder
Marte Formico, junior defender
Jake Haupt and sophomore midfielder
Andy Velasquez earned spots on the Second Team; senior forward
Kristian Heptner and sophomore defender
Max Glasser earned Honorable Mention;
Max Arfsten was named to the All-Freshman Team.
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.
