The start of night games for the men’s team for the first time in Aggie history
By MEGAN JOSEPH — sports@theaggie.org
This year’s men’s spring soccer season brought not only tough competition but also a new-and-improved schedule featuring night games. Throughout this past year, UC Davis Athletics Department finalized and completed a $4.4 million lighting project, marking the end of a lightless era for the Aggie Soccer Field and Ann and James Dobbins Baseball Complex. The joint project involved the installation of four 100-foot poles for the soccer field and eight 80-foot poles for the baseball field.
This much-awaited upgrade has led to new excitement by fans and players alike, hopefully adding to the growth in game attendance in the future.
“Just being able to have a more comfortable experience for people coming to it, to bring in more people,” Luke Goodman, a third-year psychology major, said. “Part of what makes soccer fun is having people come out to support you. It would give more availability for people to come watch us play. Wednesday at 3 p.m. is just a really bad time to have a game. People have class, it’s hot, people don’t want to come to a soccer game to sweat.”
Goodman has been a strong member of the team as a key player in the backline for the last three seasons, giving him team expertise. Goodman unfortunately suffered an injury this past 2024 season, but he has just recently made his debut back on the field during the recent night game against California State University, Chico on May 3.
The start of the night games was on April 19, when the UC Davis men’s soccer team hosted its first game under the stars against Saint Mary’s College of California. The Aggies started off the season strong with a win against Saint Mary’s, sending the Gaels home winless on Easter weekend. With a later start time for the game, more students were able to attend games to cheer on the Aggies, all while avoiding the blaring heat.
“People were scattered across the benches, which is kind of rare,” Goodman said. “In the sun, there are only a few spots of shade, so it was good to see more of the bleachers being used. It was awesome.”
Along with growth in attendance, the lights also brought a positive change for the players. Having night games allows them to have more time to prepare for the game and avoid playing in the daytime Davis heat.
“Night games usually make you feel like you have more energy,” Goodman said. “I personally feel like I can run for longer and at faster speeds than in the middle of the day. Just something about the sun not being there, beaming down on you. I think it’s gonna increase the intensity of the soccer games here at UC Davis. And hopefully it means more wins for us.”
The shift seems to have worked, as the team has had more wins than losses so far this spring season. Hopefully, they can carry this momentum into the regular season, which starts this fall. The exact schedule has not been released, but it will most likely feature many more night games.
“There’s just some kind of magic about playing into the evening under the lights,” Goodman said. “I like that feeling of ‘this is the only thing going on.’ So for me, it’s always awesome to play under the lights. I look forward to every game we play. It’s a performer’s dream.”
The men’s soccer team has one last spring season night game against Stanford University on May 17 at 7 p.m. For those interested in supporting the team and experiencing the excitement of being under the lights, check out the upcoming game.
Written by: Megan Joseph — sports@theaggie.org
Abigail DeSa contributed reporting to this piece.
