DAVIS, Calif. — UC Davis placed three players on the inaugural Mountain West Men's Soccer Watch List on Wednesday, with sophomore defenders Nami Banks and Josh Gault and junior midfielder Rafael Matiello selected by the league's head coaches.
UC Davis was also picked third in the Mountain West's first preseason coaches' poll with 15 points. Grand Canyon and San José State each totaled 22 points, with the Lopes receiving four first-place votes and the Spartans receiving two.
The announcement comes one day before the Aggies take the field for the first time in 2026. UC Davis hosts Cal in an exhibition at 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 13, at Aggie Soccer Field, the opening step toward its first season of Mountain West competition.
Banks made an immediate impact in his first college season, appearing in all 19 matches, starting 18 and ranking third on the team with 1,571 minutes. The Watsonville, Calif., native earned Big West All-Freshman Team honors after scoring twice on 20 shots. Both goals came in the opening 23 minutes of a 3-2 Senior Night win over UC Riverside, a performance that also earned him Big West Freshman of the Week honors.
Gault also took on a full-season role in the back line. The Clovis, Calif., native appeared in all 19 matches, made 13 starts and logged 1,449 minutes as a freshman. He played the full 90 minutes nine times and stayed on for all 110 minutes of UC Davis' Big West Tournament quarterfinal match at Cal State Fullerton, which the Aggies won 5-4 on penalty kicks.
Matiello enters his junior season after not appearing in a match in 2025. His freshman campaign in 2024 showed the attacking threat he can provide: three goals in 16 appearances, including a two-goal performance in a 2-1 win over Cal State Fullerton that ended the Titans' 10-match unbeaten streak. The showing earned Matiello both Big West Offensive Player of the Week and Freshman of the Week honors. He was also part of the UC Davis team that won the 2024 Big West Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
The three watch-list selections return to a program that averaged 15.3 shots per match last season, ranking 21st nationally and second in the Big West. UC Davis went 4-3-2 in its final Big West campaign, finished 3-0-1 at home in conference play and reached the tournament semifinals.
Head coach Dwayne Shaffer enters his 30th season at UC Davis with 269 victories as an NCAA head coach, the 17th-highest total among active Division I men's soccer coaches.
Following the Cal exhibition, the Aggies host Chico State at 5 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 16. UC Davis opens the regular season Aug. 20 at Sacramento State and begins Mountain West play Sept. 26 at San José State. The complete 2026 schedule is available online.
2026 MOUNTAIN WEST PRESEASON MEN'S SOCCER COACHES' POLL
| Place |
Team |
Points |
| 1. |
Grand Canyon (4) |
22 |
| 2. |
San José State (2) |
22 |
| 3. |
UC Davis |
15 |
| 4. |
UNLV |
14 |
| 5. |
Air Force |
10 |
| 6. |
Utah Tech |
7 |
First-place votes in parentheses.
2026 MOUNTAIN WEST MEN'S SOCCER WATCH LIST
- Air Force: Tucker Kern, So., MF; Quinn Muderlak, So., MF; Logan Zaa, Sr., F
- Grand Canyon: Beltran Fernandez, Sr., GK; Jorge Lopez, Sr., MF; Martin Luala, Sr., MF
- San José State: Ronin Axelson, Sr., GK; Angel Fernandez, Sr., MF; Ruben Flores-Thomas, Sr., D
- UC Davis: Nami Banks, So., D; Josh Gault, So., D; Rafael Matiello, Jr., MF
- UNLV: Bryce Allred, Sr., F; Nick Legendre, Sr., F; Manolo Vazquez, Jr., MF
- Utah Tech: Luca Campoli, So., GK; Sanir Cuevas, Jr., F; Tanner Dutra, Jr., D
ABOUT UC DAVIS ATHLETICS
UC Davis, ranked No. 2 among public universities by the Wall Street Journal in the value of a college degree, is home to 40,000 undergraduate students and 12,000 employees. Ranked top in the United States in agriculture and forestry as well as No. 1 in veterinary medicine, UC Davis is located in a true California college town nestled between world-class destinations such as the San Francisco Bay Area, Napa Valley and Lake Tahoe. Over 650 Aggie student-athletes compete in 25 Division I varsity sports, with 16 sports transitioning to the Mountain West Conference beginning in 2026–27.
For more information, visit ucdavisaggies.com.
