Davis, Calif. - UC Davis will face a top-five opponent for a second straight week, making the drive to visit No. 3 Stanford on Thursday and Saint Mary's on Sunday as its non-conference slate heats up.
GAME 2
Who: Stanford
Where: Stanford, Calif. (Maloney Field at Laird Q. Cagan Stadium)
When: Thursday, Sept. 1
Time: 3 p.m.
How to Watch:
Pac-12
How to Follow:
Live Stats
GAME 3
Who: Saint Mary's
Where: Moraga, Calif. (Saint Mary's Stadium)
When: Sunday, Sept. 4
Time: 1:30 p.m.
How to Watch:
WCC
How to Follow:
Live Stats
UC Davis Men's Soccer Twitter
UC Davis Men's Soccer Instagram
ABOUT THE CARDINAL
The Cardinal enter at 2-0 with wins over Villanova and SMU to start their season...Stanford is coming off a 6-6-6 season in 2021 that saw it finish fourth in the Pac-12...Head Coach Jeremy Gunn is in his 11th season at Stanford (128-41-35) and 24th as a head coach (315-102-66)...Gunn's Stanford teams have posted double-digit win seasons eight times...UC Davis has never lost to Stanford over three meetings...The teams have not faced one another since Sept. 4, 2005, a 1-0 win in Davis for the Aggies...Then-freshman Dan Campbell scored in the 16th minute of that game off a Juan Hernandez assist to lead the Aggies that day.
ABOUT THE GAELS
Saint Mary's sit at 1-1 to start the season, pending a Sept. 1 home contest against Sacramento State...The Gaels went 11-6-1 in 2021...Saint Mary's Head Coach Adam Cooper is in his 17th season leading the Gaels (150-101-47)...UC Davis and Saint Mary's have faced each other in each of the last 12 seasons with the Aggies sporting a 6-5-2 advantage all-time...The Aggies won the 2021 edition 3-0 at home and 4-1-1 against Saint Mary's over the last six seasons.
IN THE POLLS
Stanford come into Thursday's matchup ranked No. 3 in Aug. 28's United Soccer Coaches poll. They mark the second straight top-five opponent UC Davis has faced after seeing Oregon State when the Beavers were No. 5.
UC Davis has faced at least one nationally ranked opponent in three straight seasons. The most the Aggies have ever faced is six in 2015 and 2011.
MARCH TO 250
Head Coach
Dwayne Shaffer is approaching a career coaching milestone as the Aggie skipper sits at 241-192-62 in his 25th season at UC Davis and 26th as a head coach.
Shaffer has guided the Aggies through multiple eras, taking over and spending seven seasons at the Division-II level, navigating the transition to Division I from 2004-07, and turning UC Davis into a perennial championship contender in the Big West.
GARCIA STARTS AGGIE CAREER WITH A BANG
Marcus Garcia became UC Davis' first weekly award winner on Monday when the redshirt freshman was named the Big West Freshman Player of the Week.
A transfer from Maryland, Garcia had the equalizing goal against No. 5 Oregon State in the season opener on Aug. 25 that drew UC Davis even at 1-1 with the defending Pac-12 champions.
ROAD WARRIORS
The Aggies opened the season with three straight road games but Sunday's contest at Saint Mary's will close that stretch with UC Davis entering a three-game home stand afterwards. UC Davis will host San Diego (Sept. 8), LMU (Sept. 11), and San Jose State (Sept. 14) at Aggie Soccer Field.
