STOCKTON, Calif. -- Sophomore Kristian Heptner's two first half goals were all the UC Davis men's soccer team would end up needing on Thursday night, as senior goalkeeper Armando Quezada finished with five saves and the defense posted its second shutout of the year in a 2-0 win over Pacific at Knoles Field in Stockton, Calif.

The Aggies clinched their first victory of the season following a scoreless draw in the opener, improving to 1-0-1 heading into Sunday's contest at San Francisco. The Tigers, who out-shot UC Davis by a 15-10 margin and held a 12-3 advantage in corner kicks on the night, fell to 1-2 on the year.

In holding Pacific off the scoreboard for the second time in as many meetings, the Aggies opened a season with two straight shutouts in their favor for the first time since 2012, when they started the year with a 1-0 win over UNLV and scoreless draws at CSU Bakersfield and Air Force to begin the campaign.

In a rough and tumble contest that featured a combined 28 fouls and eight cards, Heptner, who showcased his scoring touch by finding the back of the net twice in an exhibition win over Chico State, scored his first two official goals of the season in the first 18 minutes on Thursday night to get UC Davis out quickly.

His first came from the penalty spot in just the eighth minute after he drove down the left side and was taken down in the box for the 1-0 lead, slotting the ball home to the right side off the fingertips of goalkeeper Mateo Gomez.

Just under 10 minutes later, the West Sacramento, Calif., native picked up his second of the season off a shot by teammate Evan Barrett, whose initial attempt was saved by Gomez, but the goalkeeper could not corral a rebound that bounced right to the feet of Heptner, who tapped it in easily for the 2-0 advantage.

The scores were the first for Heptner in nearly a year after scoring his first career goal as part of a 3-2 win over Wisconsin at home on Sept. 6, 2015. The sophomore led all players with four shots on the night as six other Aggies added single attempts in the match.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the field, Quezada was busy in net, turning away a season-high five shots for the match -- his highest single-match total since stopping the same number in a victory over Cal Poly on Oct. 14, 2015 -- including three of those in a second half that saw Pacific out-shoot UC Davis, 7-4.

Continuing their five-match road swing, the Aggies will head to the Bay Area looking to extend their unbeaten start to the season, taking on the Dons on Sunday night (Sept. 4) at 7 p.m.

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