IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine and UC Davis couldn't find a goal in 110 minutes, and the Aggies prevailed in penalty kicks, 6-5, to advance through the Big West Tournament Semifinals Saturday night in Anteater Stadium.

Both squads were scoreless through regulation and overtime finishing in a 0-0 draw officially. The match went to a penalty kick shootout started by the 'Eaters, and each side was true on their first two attempts.

UC Irvine (11-5-3, 5-1-1) was the first to blink as Luis Leon clipped the crossbar sending his shot high. UC Davis (11-4-4, 3-3-1) had the advantage until its fourth kicker, Robert Mejia, sending a ball sailing over the left post to even the shootout at 3-3.

The shootout went into a seventh round after makes from Ivan Canales, Christian Gutierrez, and Lawrence Yamaguchi leading to reserve keeper Carlos Contreras stepping up. The Aggies' own reserve keeper, Jon Laughlin, who stepped in for the shootout for starter Wallis Lapsley, make the decisive save stopping Contreras giving Grant Fidler the chance to break the tie and he converted ending the shootout, 6-5, in favor of UC Davis.

Greg Patenaude was unable to stop any Aggies shots in PKs, but he stopped three shots in regulation and overtime to earn the draw and his sixth shutout of the season. His counterpart, Lapsley, also made three stops.

The sides put together a defensive slugfest through the opening 90 minutes and first overtime period. The 'Eaters did not have a shot on frame until the 89th minute when Alvaro Quezada hit Lapsley right in the mitts. Victor Falck had the best chance for either team raring up and punting a shot from 35 yards out pelting the crossbar in the second minute.

Patenaude make two of his saves in regulation including punching away a long, fading shot from Nabi Kibunguchy early in the second half.

The intensity was ratcheted way up in the second overtime period with both sides pouring on the attack with chance after chance just ending in near misses and each keeper needing to stop a shot to send the match to penalty kicks.

UC Irvine's regular season ends now with a record of 11-5-3 as it fails to reach the final for just the third time in eight tournament appearances. As far as UC Irvine's NCAA Tournament hopes, it lies in the committee for an at-large selection. Historically, teams in the top 40 of the RPI are good enough to earn a bid. UC Irvine's RPI following Saturday's match stands at 17. The selection show is set for Monday, November 12 on ncaa.com.

Head Coach Yossi Raz's Postmatch Comments:

(Opening statement) "We need to remember that the UC Irvine players and staff had a fantastic season. The body of work that everyone accomplished – 18th in the RPI, top 15 offense in the country, Big West champions – I'm very proud."

(On Ivan Canales): "People don't understand how difficult the Big West is and the quality of coaches and players, and how everyone makes adjustments.  Davis got a bit healthier and got their defensive midfielder back (Nabi Kibunguchy), but besides that, they reduced the spaces so Ivan didn't have a lot of freedom.  Credit to them…I would have done the same.  Ivan is a very special player and if you give him a little bit of room, he can make the game different.  We had a lot of opportunities tonight to impact the game offensively. We came up a bit short. We produced quality moments, maybe not as much as we usually do because of the Davis defense. Ultimately the result was 0-0. We went to a PK shootout. PK shootout is a little bit of luck, a little bit of skill. We were a little bit short on both."

(On being in penalty kicks): "We were prepared to the best of our ability, but you cannot duplicate the moments. No matter how well we thought we prepared, we knew that the moment is different. There's a lot of pressure on the person taking the shot, and on the goalkeeper to make the save. I give them credit – those who scored and those who missed – because to have the nerves to take the responsibility to lead a program, and try and do it for the benefit of everybody is not easy."

(On the team's resume for NCAA postseason): "Hopefully the people on the committee see the body of work that UC Irvine did. I think if somebody watched us throughout the year, I think they would vote for us. We're fun, we're attractive futbol. Hopefully that's going to pay some kind of dividend. The reality is that, because of our result tonight, now we're at the mercy of other people choosing for us. We'll live with whatever they decide."

NOTES: UCI's record sits at 7-1-2 in Big West Tournament matches in Anteater Stadium...UCI is unbeaten (6-0-2) in its last eight home matches...the 'Eaters are winless (0-1-2) in its last three Big West Tournament matches...UCI is unbeaten when it reaches double overtime in 2018 (3-0-3)...UC Irvine's attack has not scored in its last two matches totaling 200 minutes