With no practice scheduled Monday, members of the UC Davis men’s soccer team spent an extra 24 hours on Cloud 9.
After stunning No. 6 UCLA, 2-1, in overtime on Sunday at Aggie Soccer Stadium, the local heroes have been the buzz of the collegiate soccer world.
And that spotlight feels mighty good.
“This means a lot not only to the players, but to our entire athletic program,” UCD coach Dwayne Shaffer said after Alex Henry’s goal in the final seconds of the first overtime period sent the Aggies to victory.
But this win wasn’t a fluke.
Shaffer knew his team had just dominated a school that has national-championship aspirations.
“(This) shows that UC Davis is able to play with the elite Division I programs,” the 15-year Aggie coach added. “UCLA is a very good team. They have some pros on that team, but in the game of soccer you always have a chance to win.”
Shaffer believed UCD “executed tactics perfectly (Sunday). I thought it was evident, that after 25 minutes, UCLA couldn’t handle our counterattack. I knew eventually we were going to get one on them.”
As the 1,050 fans attending in standing-room-only conditions saw, the Aggies had to get two on UCLA.
After the Bruins showed their frustrating ball-control style early in the game, UCD’s patience and brilliant transition game started to take its toll.
When former Atascadero High star Alex Aguiar smoked a screwball past UCLA’s diving goalie Earl Edwards two minutes into the second half, the crowd sensed something different about Sunday afternoon.
The Aggies had a couple more near scores before a rare defensive lapse let the Bruins back in.
At 86:41, Kelyn Rowe supplied a dead-on through ball to UCLA attacker Chandler Hoffman, who had only to redirect the ball to the right of stymied keeper Omar Zeenni.
There was nothing Zeenni could do on that shot, but his acrobatic saves earlier in the contest had set the Aggie stage for upset. Crestfallen, UCD fans pondered that now all was even.
“We knew if we controlled our composure, we could (still) come out with a win,” Henry believed. “I was making runs all game down the left side. I knew my team would get me the ball, eventually.
“(John) Joslin got the ball to me, then I got the ball past a defender … looked up and saw an open shot I couldn’t pass up. Finally I got it on net.”
Zeenni, from Arcadia, had his parents, family and friends in attendance and joined the on-field celebration with humility …
“Our guys played spectacular, man,” he said. “The preparation for this game was not so much different. But everybody was so focused and we weren’t intimidated.
“We took the challenge and made the best of it: (Ethan) Shawlee, Brian Ford, (Lance) Patterson, (Rene) Cuellar … We had a mental lapse in the last three minutes, but we got it back. And we earned it.”
Notes: Next up for the Aggies is another home weekend, featuring Oregon State on Friday (2:30 p.m.) and Cal State Bakersfield (4 p.m., Sunday). Each day features a doubleheader with the UCD women’s team, which plays Creighton on Friday at 5 p.m. and has UNLV on Sunday at 1 p.m. … Men’s teams in the Big West Conference are now 13-5-3 on the young season. UC Santa Barbara (at UCD on Saturday, Oct. 8 ) is ranked ninth nationally and UC Irvine (there on Wednesday, Oct. 19) is No. 14. … The Aggies were without key sophomore forward Kevin Schulte (illness) against UCLA. “Kevin’s a great player,” Shaffer says. “He’s our quickest and most technical player … and (when he’s) back on the field, that makes us even a little bit better.”
— Reach Bruce Gallaudet at [email protected] or (530) 747-8047.