Cason Goodman's two goals lead Aggie men to Big West soccer championship
Win propels UC Davis into NCAA tournament, pairings to be announced Monday morning.
SANTA BARBARA - Cason Goodman scored two first-half goals and the Aggie defense took over in the second half as No. 4 UC Davis stunned No. 2 UC Santa Barbara, 2-0, to claim the Big West Tournament men's soccer championship and a bid to the NCAA tournament.
Pairings and first-round home sites will be announced Monday at 10 a.m. on NCAA.com.
Goodman, named the championship game MVP, was ecstatic to win the title in his hometown.
"I've been coming to UCSB games since I was a kid," Goodman said.
"I've always wanted to play in the championship game. To be here is amazing. Everyone has worked so hard to get to this moment. Guys have stepped up left and right to make this happen."
Goodman, who now has 11 goals on the season, opened the scoring in the 20th minute on a perfectly placed assist from Keegan Walwyn-Bent.
His second score came off his left foot in the 44th minute with an assist from Kevin Welch.
Noted UCD head coach Dwayne Shaffer, who also had a Big West title in 2019, "Cason's one of our most talented players and he's the hardest worker. And he's also able to score goals. It's been great to watch him develop over the last several years, along with his brother Luke. Both goals were almost identical. It was great to see."
Things weren't always so rosy for the Aggies, who opened Big West play 0-2 after back-to-back 1-0 home losses to Cal Poly and UC Irvine.
Once mired in ninth place, UCD won its last three games to earn a spot in the six-team Big West tournament, where it defeated No. 5 Cal State Bakersfield, 2-1, No. 1 Cal Poly, 5-4 on penalty kicks, and finally No. 2 Santa Barbara.Â
The Aggies lost to UCSB, 3-1, during the regular season.
Added Shaffer, "It takes a lot of bounces to go your way to win the Big West championship. Even when we lost those two at the start, I was telling them they were the best team in the Big West and they showed it."
Goodman agreed.
"I think back then with the way we started, the whole team knew we were a long way from the season being over," he said.
"I just love this team. We've been saying from day one that this is where we wanted to be on the final day. We got hot at the right time. It was a total team effort and a dream come true. It was nice to have so much of my family here, and what really makes me happy is to see how happy all my teammates are."
Shaffer had praise for his team for responding in a championship fashion after a rough start, but also praise for the quality of play in the Big West, where every game was a battle and there were no easy outs.
"It's been an incredible run with these guys," said the Aggie coach.
"As the season went along we just got better and better. I thought our defense in the second half against Santa Barbara was outstanding. Zack Lillington was tremendous for us tonight and has been all season. He's an unbelievable player who just continued to get better."
UC Davis' defensive line of Cole Pond, Gavin House, Carson Hammond and Lillington, along with Goodman and Lucas Fernandez-Kim, played all 90 minutes and did not allow a shot on goal until the 72nd minute.
Aggie goalie Noah Schwengeler recorded three saves, all which came in the second half.
Added Shaffer, "This is the first step in our ultimate goal to win a national championship."
Reach Bob Dunning at bobdunning@thewaryone.com
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