The Chico State men’s soccer team has spent this week preparing for its final weekend road trip of the regular season. The Wildcats travel to face UC San Diego Friday at 7 p.m. and Cal State East Bay Sunday at 2 p.m. However, they can take a huge step toward ensuring that they’ll spend at least one more weekend on the road in the postseason with a successful trip.
Chico State, ranked No. 14 in the nation and No. 2 in the West Region, has positioned itself nicely in the postseason conversation by starting the season 9-3 overall and 7-3 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA). The Wildcats lead all CCAA teams with 21 points (three for a win and one for a tie) through 10 of 16 conference matches, and lead Sonoma State by a full game in the race for the CCAA North Division crown.
In UC San Diego, the Wildcats face arguably the CCAA’s hottest team over the past three weeks. The Tritons, 4-0-2 in their last six, beat Cal State Monterey Bay 1-0 and San Francisco State 2-0 three weeks ago, played 8th-ranked Cal State San Bernardino to a 1-1 draw and defeated West Region No. 4 Cal Poly Pomona 2-0 two weekends ago, and last weekend drew with CCAA South Division leader Cal State Dominguez Hills 0-0 before beating Cal State L.A. 1-0.
Chico State striker Ferid Celosmanovic, second in the CCAA with eight goals and tied for first with four game winners, will try to help the Wildcats break through against a Tritons squad that has allowed just one goal over the last seven matches to get squarely back into the CCAA Championship Tournament berth hunt. They are 4-4-0 overall and 4-3-3 in the CCAA.
Despite UC San Diego’s strong defense of late, the Wildcats actually rank second only to Cal State L.A. in goals allowed at just 0.83 per game. Goalkeeper James Stroud leads the CCAA with a goals-against-average of 0.72 and saves percentage of .840.
Cal State East Bay has been as generous in terms of goals as the Wildcats have been miserly. The Pioneers have been outscored 14-1 in their last four games and have allowed a CCAA high 35 goals on the season.
After this weekend, the Wildcats return home to play three home games in six days. They’ll face San Francisco State Oct. 22 at 7 p.m., Cal State Monterey Bay Oct. 24 at 11:30 a.m., and Cal State Stanislaus on Oct. 27 at 7 p.m. before wrapping up the regular season at Cal State Stanislaus on Oct. 30 at 7 p.m.
