Take it from another Luke - never tell Luke Palmer: “Luke, I am your father.” If anything, Palmer was your daddy Monday. He was certainly Cal State Monterey Bay’s. Palmer used the all of the force in his right cleat to drill home two second half goals, lifting the Chico State men’s soccer team to a 3-1 win against the Otters Monday afternoon at University Soccer Stadium.
Cal State Monterey Bay’s Grant Robson equalized Chris Akwaja’s first-half goal in the 56th minute. Then the Chico State soccer empire struck back. Palmer was like a death star approaching a ball that bounced out of the mix following a cross. The freshman midfielder hit a laser that obliterated the hands of Otters goalkeeper Christopher Usrey, slicing right through them on the way into the net for his first collegiate goal.
Palmer sent another ball into hyperspace 19 minutes later. This time the ball bounced his way after Ryan Nevarez’s throw in made its way out of the mix. He hit a ball that seemed to disappear before reappearing in the back of the net near the upper-V to the right of Usrey, giving the Wildcats a 3-1 lead in the 79th minute.
Clearly the force was strong with Palmer Monday. It’s been strong with the Wildcats all season. Ranked No. 21 in the nation and No. 2 in the West Region entering Monday’s play, the Wildcats improved to 12-4-0 overall and 10-4-0 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) with the victory. The win also gives the Wildcats a crystal clear understanding of where they stand in the CCAA Championship Tournament picture.
Chico State will earn the CCAA North Division title with a win or two ties in its final two matches of the regular season against Cal State Stanislaus. They face the second-place Warriors at home Wednesday at 4:30 on Senior Day and then on the road in Turlock Saturday. The Wildcats currently lead the division with 30 points. Cal State Stanislaus has 26 and Sonoma State 25. Teams are awarded three points for a win and one for a tie. The Wildcats trail Cal State San Bernardino by a single point in the race for the top seed in the CCAA Championship Tournament.
The Wildcats opened the scoring in the 17th minute when the red-hot Chris Akwaja scored his eighth goal of the season and fourth in the last three games. Nevarez opened things up for the offense with a pass to Bradford who was making a run away from him toward the corner flag. Bradford took a touch and then threaded a pass through the teeth of the defense to Akwaja, making a diagonal run toward the mouth of the goal. The pass left Akwaja with only the goalkeeper to beat. He did, finessing a shot toward the far corner.
Robson equalized in the 56th minute. Mucho Pefok took a throw in and beat a defender toward the end line before rolling a cross past the mouth of the goal. Robson one-touched it back across the face of Wildcats’ goalkeeper Sam Evans, who was attempting to cut off the angle at the near post, and into the net for his second goal of the year.
In the end, however, the dark side could not prevail.
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