Teams: UC Davis vs. UC Riverside
Records: Aggies 4-7 (1-1); Highlanders 1-8 (0-1)
Where: Aggie Soccer Stadium
When: Today at 3 p.m.
Who to watch? Captain Paul Marcoux scored the game-winning goal to beat UC Irvine 2-1 in double overtime last Wednesday.
Exactly one week later, Marcoux will look to lead his teammates to a win in another Big West Conference bout this afternoon at Aggie Soccer Stadium.
The Mountain View, Calif. native leads the team with four goals so far this season.
Did you know? In the two teams‘ sole match-up of the 2008 season, the Highlanders upset the then No. 7 ranked Aggies in Riverside.
Former UC Davis midfielder Dylan Curtis scored the Aggies‘ only goal on a penalty kick in the 78th minute.
UC Riverside would get a goal in the final minutes to steal the game from the nationally ranked Aggies.
Preview: The 2009 version of this matchup will be different in a handful of ways.
This season, the game will be played at Aggie Soccer Stadium, giving UC Davis the home field advantage and backing from the Aggie faithful.
In addition to that, the Aggies aren’t nationally ranked at the moment, so the target will not be on their backs this time.
In fact, the teams match up fairly evenly according to coach Dwayne Shaffer.
“They’ve had some unfortunate results this season,” Shaffer said. “Their record just doesn’t indicate how good they really are, just like ours doesn’t. I’m expecting just another tough battle. Hopefully we can score an early goal and give our team a great chance to win.“
UC Riverside is currently the lowest scoring team in the Big West with six goals on the season.
One of those came in the conference opener for the Highlanders, a 3-1 loss at the hands of Cal State Northridge.
UC Davis is tied for third in the league in scoring with a total of 13 on the year.
– JOHN HELLER
