Air Force Academy
UC Davis
Falcons Fall to 21st-Ranked UC Davis, 4-1
9/27/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Sept. 27, 2008
Ahmad Hatifie and Quincy Amarikwa both scored two goals, and Sule Anibaba had two assists as No. 21 UC Davis scored four unanswered goals to overcome an early deficit and defeat Air Force, 4-1, in a non-conference men's soccer game in front of a sellout crowd of 1,250 at Aggie Soccer Stadium Saturday afternoon.
The Aggies have now won six consecutive games to push their record to 8-1 overall, while the Falcons end a two-game winning streak to fall to 2-6.
Air Force became the first team all season to take an early lead on UC Davis as they scored a goal in the 22nd minute. Steven Noller notched his third goal in as many games when he sent a long cross from Ben Chavez to the top left corner of the goal. It turned out to be the only shot on goal for the Falcons, while the Aggies had seven. It also marked the first career point for Chavez.
Following the early goal, UC Davis picked up its offensive attack and took two shots before Amarikwa evened things up in the 33rd minute. Amarikwa took a pass from Anibaba and drove around Air Force goalkeeper Jim Gullo to get a shot on an empty net. Gullo made three saves in the first period to keep things knotted at 1-1 entering the half.
The Aggies opened the second half with the same intensity, but didn't manage a shot until 13 minutes into the period. Hatifie took a rebound from 15 yards out in the 61st minute and redirected it toward the left post past a diving keeper to put the Aggies ahead, 2-1.
Hatifie struck again five minutes later with almost the exact same shot to the left post, the only difference was a pass from Anibaba to the center of the box. It was Hatifie's first two-goal game of his career and Anibaba's first two-assist game.
Amarikwa netted his second score, and ninth overall, in the 89th minute as he bent a free kick from the top of the box into the left side of the net. He finished with a game-high four shots.
The Falcons enter Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play next Friday, Oct. 3 as they host UNLV at 7 p.m.
