SEATTLE – Hello Felipe Restrepo. Hello huge win.
The Chico State men’s soccer team upset Division I-bound Seattle University 1-0 Friday afternoon to kick off Restrepo’s tenure as the team’s new head coach Friday afternoon in Seattle. Zac Crim blasted the only goal of the match into an open net in the 57th minute, lifting the Wildcats to their most impressive road victory since their 2003 run to the National Championship match.
Seattle University, which is beginning its reclassification transitional year and will be a Division I program next season, opened its 2008 campaign last weekend with wins over Division I foes Cleveland State (1-0) and North Florida (3-0) to claim by claim the UC Irvine College Classic crown. The Redhawks fell to 2-1 with their first loss of the season and just their fourth in the last two years.
The Wildcats (1-0) scored on a counterattack after an unsuccessful Seattle University corner kick for the lone goal of the match. Chris Akwaja found Benjamin Moukoko streaking up the right side of the field, and Moukoko’s cross close to the net was chipped in by Crim. Moukoko, who scored 25 goals in two seasons at Foothill Community College before transferring to Chico State this season, provided enough of a threat to draw Seattle goalie Emerson DeOliveira away from the net. When DeOliveira committed to challenging Moukoko, he slipped a pass to Crim, who had a wide open net.
Chico State outshot Seattle University, 14-7, including an 8-2 shot advantage in the second half. DeOliveira finished with four saves in the match. Senior Andrew Kreiter was the only Redhawk credited with more than one shot, picking up two shots. Chico State’s Evan Armstrong led all players with three shots in the match.
The Redhawks’ best chance of the second half came in the 77th minute, when Elliot Richards dribbled the ball through the Wildcat defense and blasted a shot towards the net. Chico State goalie Michael Keohane deflected it off the post to preserve the shutout. Keohane earned the shutout victory, making two saves during the afternoon.
Seattle University earned two major scoring chances midway through the first half. First, Marshall Kosaka sent a shot towards net in the 20th minute, but Keohane made the save. Two minutes later, Luis Gamez sent a corner kick into the box that reached Brandon Hamer, but his shot hit the crossbar and bounced back out.
BOX SCORE
