Omar Nuno recorded the first hat trick by a Chico State men’s soccer player since 2008 just 30 minutes into Friday’s match against Cal State East Bay, but in the second half it was two of his Wildcat teammates who found the back of the net. One of them was freshman Esten Schroeder, who scored what Head Coach Felipe Restrepo undoubtedly hopes will be the first of many goals in the midfielder’s Chico State career. Schroeder’s play in both weekend matches earned the Merced native Wildcat of the Week honors.
Schroeder was involved with two of the ’Cats’ goals in Friday’s 5-2 win over East Bay. He assisted on the final goal of Nuno’s hat trick in the 29th minute to put Chico State in front 3-1. In the waning minutes of the second half, Schroeder wrapped up the Wildcats’ memorable night with a goal of his own – leading a 3-on-1 break in the 86th minute, Schroeder knocked in the rebound off Dylan Wakefield’s scoring attempt for his first-ever Chico State goal.
The Wildcats fell short Sunday, but Schroeder turned in another impressive outing, logging 42 solid minutes in a hard-fought 1-0 loss to Stanislaus State.
The Wildcats will be in Southern California this weekend for a pair of huge conference matchups against Cal State Dominguez Hills Friday and Cal State L.A. on Sunday.
