Last year’s UC Davis men’s soccer was compared to the mantra: Giants baseball – its torture.

The tag line summarized the string of dramatic victories that led to San Francisco’s Championship season last year.

UC Davis men’s soccer fans thought last season’s run of a then-record six overtime contests and numerous more one-goal losses constituted high drama.

Those UC Davis supporters had no idea what they would be in for in 2011.

Never before has an Aggie team played in so many dramatic contests, and just when you think the run of close matches must come to an end, UC Davis finds a way to play yet another nail-biter.

Just a single game this season has been decided by more than one goal, but the drama goes well beyond that.

This team simply does not know how to finish a game in 90 minutes.

Nine of UC Davis’ 15 games this year have required at least one extra period, just two behind the NCAA Division I record of 11 overtime games in a season. That string includes four double-overtime affairs and a streak of five-straight overtime contests at home that was snapped in late September.

Add to that the two games against Cal Poly that were both decided within the final six minutes and you have very stressed groups of players and fans.

And not only have the games been close, but the Aggies have also gone to overtime in all of their high-profile match-ups.

UC Davis’ biggest home-win of the season came in an overtime thriller over then sixth-ranked UCLA – a game that featured more ups and downs than most teams go through over the course of a season.

A month later UC Davis had a chance to stun another nationally ranked opponent when UC Santa Barbara paid a visit to Aggie Soccer Field, but failed to capitalize on late chances before losing 2-1.

The Aggies then followed that with their 2-1 overtime upset win over No. 4 UC Irvine Wednesday, in a game no one would have predicted they could win.

“I guess it makes the fans stay in their seats,” said sophomore midfielder Alex Aguiar. “We’ve been working our butts off through every game and these [dramatic] wins are just that much more exciting.”

With a record of 4-3-2 in overtime contests, it’s hard to guess how any of these games will end, a proposition that causes Aggie fans just a little extra stress on top of the already tense soccer scene.

And for those faint-of-heart Aggie fans, I have some bad news: Don’t expect the madness to end anytime soon.

UC Davis is preparing for a dogfight in the unpredictable Big West Conference. They currently sit tied for first in the league, and are nearly assured a place in the Big West tournament, but there is still a lot left to play for.

A top-two finish in the conference would give the Aggies home field advantage in their first-round playoff game, and should it hold on to its to position in the standings, UC Davis would host all of its tournament games.

The Aggies’ next match is a rematch with UCSB, a team that is bound to make a late-season run, and a game that has overtime written all over it.

UC Davis will follow that with matches against Cal State Fullerton and UC Riverside as the teams jockey for position in the Big West standings.

And once the Aggies make the playoffs, the madness will undoubtedly follow them there. UC Davis will have a reasonable shot at winning the Big West and making an NCAA Tournament appearance – but as Coach Dwayne Shaffer always says: “Once you make it to the conference tournament, anything can happen.”

And should they make it that far, you can bet that anything will include a string of dramatic finishes – and yes, a healthy dose of overtime.

TREVOR CRAMER can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.

The struggles away from Davis continue for the UC Davis volleyball team.

UC Davis fell in four sets to UC Irvine on Friday, extending their road-losing streak to five matches. During that stretch the Aggies have won just three sets.

The loss moved UC Davis to 18-6 on the season, and dropped to sixth in the Big West Conference at the record on 4-5.

The match got off to a good start for the Aggies, as they took the first set 25-21. UC Davis struggled from there, however, dropping the next two sets 25-19 and 25-13.

The Aggies made a valiant effort in the fourth frame, forcing match-point four times before Anteater Shaina Olsen tallied the final two points to give UC Irvine the match with a 30-28 set win.

Olsen finished the match with 19 kills and 12 digs.

UC Davis tallied 34 attack errors and posted just a .091 attack percentage in the game – well below its .175 season average.

The Aggies also struggled to control the net, posting just five blocks compared to UC Irvine’s 16.

Junior Allison Whitson led the Aggies with 16 kills. Sophomore Jenny Woolway paced the team with 14 digs, while junior Caroline Mercado added 13. Whitson and fellow junior Kaitlyn Plum posted 10 digs apiece.

Woolway also finished the contest with 36 assists.

UC Davis will return home to face UC Santa Barbara on Friday and Cal Poly on Saturday. The Aggies lost to both of those squads when they faced them on the road earlier this season.

– Trevor Cramer

It was a week the UC Davis players will never forget.

In two nail-biters, the Aggies upset No. 4 UC Irvine in overtime and overcame a late deficit to defeat Cal Poly.

“The team has been in so many tight games, we kind of have the ‘Here we go again’ feeling when we play overtime,” said coach Dwayne Shaffer. “Now we have an experienced group…you can see the progression as we’re now over .500.”

The pair of victories vaulted UC Davis into a tie for first place in the Big West Conference at the league record of 5-2 – 7-6-2 on the year.

Wednesday – UC Davis 2, UC Irvine 1 (OT)

The Anteaters were playing at their home stadium, but never had a chance to feel comfortable in Wednesday night’s game.

UC Davis knocked them off their first place standing, pulling off an overtime upset over the fourth ranked team in the nation.

Sophomore Kevin Schulte scored both goals for the Aggies, but by no means was it a one-man show.

The Anteaters played a strong first half and scored in the 28th minute.

“Once they got that goal, they got better and we had to fight out of a hole,” Shaffer said. “But at halftime we made some adjustments, we were going at them and we were the better fitter team.”

The Aggies’ stamina showed in the second frame, as Schulte headed the ball into the net in the 60th minute to tie the game.

The game remained knotted at one as regulation expired and UC Davis entered its ninth overtime game of the season.

Then, with a little over a minute remaining in the first extra period, Schulte dealt the blow that felled the Big West giants, knocking in the goal that stunned the Anteaters. Shaffer, though, knows it was not luck that carried the team to victory.

“We were going at them so hard and we had so many chances to score,” he said. “Finally we got [the first goal] and you could sense the second was going to come. Our depth took over.”

Saturday – UC Davis 2, Cal Poly 1

Saturday looked like it might have been Cal Poly’s day.

The Mustangs missed a penalty kick in the 24th minute of the first half, but found the net in the 66th minute when a strike from outside the box flew over the outstretched arm of sophomore goalkeeper Omar Zeenni and into the UC Davis net.

The last time the Aggies played the Mustangs, freshman Matt Wiesenfarth knocked in a goal with six minutes left to lift the Aggies to victory. This time, Wiesenfarth didn’t wait quite as long.

With eight minutes remaining in regulation, Wiesenfarth beat two defenders on the right side and tied the game with a shot that glided across the box and into the opposite corner of the goal.

All signs pointed to yet another overtime game until the Aggies drew a penalty kick just four minutes later.

With the pressure mounting, sophomore midfielder Alex Aguiar drilled a penalty kick that glanced off the goalkeeper’s hands and into the goal.

“The guys are proving they can come from behind,” Shaffer said. “Once we got the first, I thought we were going to win.”

Indeed, the Aggies held on for the final four minutes and took the 2-1 victory.

UC Davis will continue its run through the Big West when it plays at UC Santa Barbara on Wednesday.

MATTHEW YUEN can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.

For this 2011 UC Davis football team, the pieces are not falling into place.

Early in the season, it was the Aggie defense that was overmatched against powerful offensive opponents. Later, as the defense began to settle, it was the offense that struggled to move the chains and put points on the board.

Then, last week against the University of Texas, San Antonio, the team started to click, earning its second win of the season. The offense was able to establish the run, providing a balanced attack that was backed up by a solid defensive effort.

This weekend at the University of South Dakota, though, a strong performance by the Aggies was undone by costly penalties and a season high five turnovers.

UC Davis was able to execute its game plan on both sides of the ball, and ultimately outplayed the Coyotes in all phases of the game.

However, the turnovers were too much to overcome, and the Aggies fell 27-24.

“We played very well defensively and got the kind of balance we wanted offensively, but the turnovers cost us,” Head Coach Bob Biggs said.

For UC Davis, the second half turnovers proved to be the most costly. With the score tied at 17-17 partway through the third quarter, sophomore quarterback Randy Wright threw an interception that was returned 66 yards for a South Dakota touchdown. It was the only score of the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, the hard work continued to unravel. A fumble by Wright on a South Dakota sack deep in UC Davis territory set up a quick field goal for the Coyotes, making the score 27-17.

Wright fumbled again on the following UC Davis possession, but the Aggie defense was able to hold. A quick touchdown drive orchestrated by Wright cut the deficit to three, but with only one minute remaining in the game.

The onside kick by UC Davis’ senior Sean Kelley was a good one, but the bouncing ball was recovered by the South Dakota, and time ran out on the Aggies.

When looking at the final score, Biggs lamented the third quarter, in which the Aggies failed to put any points on the board.

“At that point I really thought we were outplaying them, but we just couldn’t take advantage of some of the opportunities we had,” he said.

Asked about why the team was unable to capitalize on opportunities, the 19-year UC Davis head coach was quick to point to penalties. The Aggies were flagged 11 times for 99 yards in the game.

“They just seemed to come at untimely moments,” Biggs said of the penalties. “We got into their territory and then found ourselves backpedaling.

“Those are the kinds of things that hurt you in the long run because they take us out of opportunities to kick field goals. As it turns out, that’s the difference in the game.”

Going forward, the Aggies will need to eliminate the mistakes, but also build on what was a strong performance on both sides of the ball.

On offense, UC Davis outgained the Coyotes both in the air and on the ground, while rushing for over 100 yards for only the second time this year.

Defensively, the Aggies executed their game plan perfectly, and were unlucky to give up three touchdowns.

“I felt (the defense) played great,” Biggs said. “Our goal was to stop the run and we held them under 100 yards. We did exactly what we wanted to do.

“We have to keep fighting. We’re smart enough to realize that we can be a pretty good football team, but we have to eliminate the mistakes that are causing us not to win games.”

For all football news and updates, you can follow CAELUM SHOVE on twitter @CaAggieFootball. He can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.

Teams: UC Davis at Cal State Bakersfield; vs. UC Santa Barbara

Records: Aggies, 9-4-1 (3-1-1); Roadrunners, 3-11-1: Gauchos, 6-9-2 (1-4-0)

Where: Main Soccer Field – Bakersfield, Calif.; Aggie Soccer Field

When: Today at 7 p.m.; Sunday at 1 p.m.

Who to watch: Freshman Rogan Dolan is heating up for UC Davis, scoring her first goal as an Aggie last week against Pacific and tallying another assist against Cal Poly.

The Concord, Calif. native has put her impressive footwork to work for the Aggies, playing 286 minutes so far this season. Dolan is part of the squad of younger players on the team that have earned praise from coach MaryClaire Robinson and senior teammates this year.

The Aggies are serious contenders for the Big West Conference Championship Tournament this year and the team will continue to rely on younger players like Dolan to keep the wins coming.

Did you know? UC Davis played both Cal State Bakersfield and UC Santa Barbara last year. It tied 1-1 against the Roadrunners and earned a 2-1 conference victory over the Gauchos later in the season.

Preview: The Aggies kick off the weekend with a non-conference game against the Roadrunners.

UC Davis is riding the momentum from its impressive victories last weekend but it has to be careful not to let its guard down, even in a non-conference game.

The Roadrunners will be hungry for a win after suffering a 0-1 loss against Cal State Fullerton last Sunday.

The Aggies’ match against CSU Bakersfield will set the tone for how they enter Sunday’s home game against conference rival UCSB.

Although the Gauchos are currently last in conference the Aggies cannot afford to enter the game with a complacent mindset.

“These conference points are like gold,” Robinson said. “We need to keep the intensity high and not lose out focus.”

UCSB earned its first conference victory over UC Riverside last Sunday and it will have an opportunity to grab another on Friday when it plays Pacific before returning to Davis for Sunday’s match.

The Aggies certainly have the talent to win both of these games and Robinson has applauded her team’s dedication and work ethic this year.

She has also mentioned how the Aggies have also benefited from a strong defense this season.

“Defensively we have Aisha Lott in the backfield and she provides a lot of confidence. Taylor Chamberlain has also done very well for us. We’ve got Maria [Magana] in net and she’s had some huge saves this year.” Robinson said.

The Aggies hope to extend their three-game winning streak this weekend. They also want to earn another conference victory this Sunday at 1 p.m. in Aggie Soccer Field.

– Kim Carr

Teams: UC Davis at UC Irvine

Records: Aggies, 18-5 (4-4); Anteaters 7-11 (2-5)

Where: Crawford Court – Irvine, Calif.

When: Friday at 7 p.m.

Who to watch: Sophomore Jenny Woolway is the driving force behind the UC Davis team.

The San Diego native has played in 79 of the Aggies’ 84 sets this season and has tallied 849 of the team’s 1066 assists. She has also proven to be effective going forward, with a .305 attack percentage.

Woolway will need to be at the top of her game if the Aggies plan to get back on track against the Anteaters.

Did you know? After starting the season 16-1, the Aggies have gone 2-4 over their last six games.

All four of those losses have come on the road, and UC Davis has won just two sets in those four defeats.

Preview: Coach Jamie Holmes has constantly harped on her opinion that the Big West Conference will be decided by which team wins on the road.

The Aggies have struggled in league play away from Davis, but they will have a prime chance to get back to their winning ways on Friday.

UC Irvine is just 2-5 in conference this year and 1-2 on their home floor.

Despite the Anteaters underwhelming record, the Aggies are still planning to give 100 percent this week.

“To beat Irvine, we’ll have to work hard in practice,” Holmes said. “If we take our work seriously and take our contacts seriously, I know we can go down there and be successful. It will take a work ethic and a desire.”

The team’s effort will be important as they enter a key portion of the season.

UC Davis is currently two games behind conference leader Long Beach State with eight Big West matches remaining.

With vital contests ahead, Holmes is placing the emphasis on her upperclassmen to lead the team.

“They are our leaders. Where they go, so goes the team,” she said. “That’s pressure on me to hold them accountable, and it’s pressure on the seniors and juniors to hold themselves accountable.

“That’s how we win ballgames.”

– Trevor Cramer