Follow UC Davis:
Twitter |
Instagram |
Facebook
Purchase Tickets for Friday's Championship Game
Watch UC Davis' Postgame Press Conference |
Photo Gallery
DAVIS, Calif. – UC Davis, the 24th-ranked team in the nation, advanced to the Big West Tournament's championship game for the third year in a row thanks to a dominating performance over Cal State Fullerton in Saturday's semifinal matchup at Aggie Soccer Field.
Max Arfsten scored his first goal as an Aggie in the 15th minute, which gave his team an early advantage, and erased any momentum the Titans generated up to that point.
On one end of the field, the Aggies peppered CSF goalkeeper Paul-Andre Guerin with one shot after another; UC Davis out-shot the Titans 10-2 in the first half, 15-2 in the second, and prevented Cal State Fullerton from recording its first shot of the day for the first 40 minutes of the game.
Two Titan team saves prevented the Aggies from further extending that one-goal advantage, but
Adam Mickelson sealed the result for UC Davis by scoring on a 1v1 opportunity in the 56th minute, which pushed his team's lead to a 2-0 margin, the game's final score.
Even though 34 minutes still remained in the match following Mickelson's strike, the Titans' body language spoke volumes about their situation: UC Davis dominated both halves of the field throughout the entire afternoon, controlled the pace of play from start to finish and would not let anyone, or anything stop them from advancing to Friday's championship match.
Jake Haupt earned an assist on both Aggie goals and has now earned four points in his team's last two games. In addition to setting up today's game-winner, he scored the game-winning goal for UC Davis on Nov. 2 versus Sacramento State. That shot led to the program's third Big West championship (and second in the last three seasons) and the No. 1 bid at this year's league playoffs.
UC Davis will face the winner of tonight's 7 p.m. CSUN at UC Santa Barbara semifinal in Friday's 2 p.m. championship match, at Aggie Soccer Field, and compete for the league's automatic bid at this year's NCAA Tournament. It will enter that contest with a 12-4-2 overall record.
Cal State Fullerton will end its season with a 12-7-1 overall mark.
UC Davis' first goal started with a
Kristian Heptner cross into the box, which was directed towards Haupt. With multiple Titans heading in his direction, Haupt punched a header from one side of the goal to the other towards Arfsten, who waited patiently by the near post.
By one-timing his teammate's pass with a header of his own, the Titans fell into an early hole, and knew they were in trouble.
The Aggies allowed a league-low 12 goals to opponents throughout their 17 previously played games, three to Big West opponents, and collected eight shutouts (including Saturday's match) throughout the year.
Ten minutes into the second half, Haupt created a turnover in the Titans' third of the field, which ultimately led to his second assist of the day. His long ball hit Mickelson in stride, from more than 30 yards away, and the senior forward took care of the rest.
Guerin reacted to Haupt's long ball by charging towards Mickelson; once he realized that he lost that footrace, all he could do was extend his arms in an effort to deflect Mickelson's chip shot towards the goal. Unable to deflect that attempt, the Titans fell two goals down once the ball came to a stop in the back of the net.
UC Davis soccer fans can purchase tickets for Saturday's championship game by
clicking here.
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.
