The Chico State men’s soccer team had a mountain to climb, trailing 1-0 as the ticks of the clock told a story of a season coming to a close. No big deal. The Wildcats have been climbing mountains since legendary Head Coach Don Batie introduced “Mountain Camp” to the program in 1970.
Tyson Crim scored the equalizer with 3:46 to play and Zach Bradford’s low liner from 35 yards completed the stunning comeback with 1:48 to go as the Wildcats defeated 7th-ranked Grand Canyon 2-1 for the NCAA Championship Tournament West Region title Sunday afternoon at University Soccer Stadium.
They were the two most magical moments of a day filled with memories and wrought with history.
All four of Chico State’s coaches from the last 43 years – Batie (1967-74, 76-95, Bob Russ (1975), Mike O’Malley (1996-2007) and current Chico State Head Coach Felipe Restrepo – were all in the stands Sunday. (Restrepo was serving a one-game suspension following his red card in Friday’s regional semifinal.) Two key traditions have carried over through all of their leaderships: Mountain Camp, which took place for the 40th time prior to this season, and momentous wins.
The West Region title is the sixth in Chico State men’s soccer history and the first since 2003.
“It was such an amazing feeling,” said Wildcats Assistant Coach Donny Ribaudo, the acting head coach Sunday with Restrepo in the stands. “I thought we played a great game and fought the entire time. We made a couple different changes at the end when we put three in the back and went for it, and the guys got it done. It was awesome.”
For a long while, it didn’t look as though it was meant to be.
Grand Canyon held a second-half lead for nearly 35 minutes following Joao Vieira’s goal in the 52nd minute. Kyle Ciliento’s cross put the Wildcats in danger. Chico State defender Jacob Darr challenged Grand Canyon’s Mitchell Garcia in the air and won half the battle. But the ball dropped right to the feet of a completely unmarked Vieira. He had time to survey the situation and rightly waited for Wildcats goalkeeper Sam Evans to make a move before countering with a low liner into the far right corner from 15 yards for his fourth goal of the season and second of the regional.
Ciliento set that play in motion. But the NCAA’s leading scorer was silenced beyond that. Man marked by Chico State freshman defender Mike Janjigian all afternoon, Ciliento did not get off a single shot.
Still, it looked as though he might have done enough until the 87th minute when the Wildcats finally broke through. Grand Canyon was unable to get the ball out of its end on consecutive Chico State corner kicks and a clearance attempt eventually found its way to defender Ryan Nevarez on the right flank. He drove a ball toward the near post that Tyson Crim got his head on right at the six-yard box and snuck between the near post and the goalkeeper to knot the score a 1-1.
Pandemonium ensued. Two minutes later it was pandemonium times two.
Again, Grand Canyon was unable to move the ball out of its own end. Bradford will tell you what happened next.
“Tyson (Crim) and Luke (Palmer) and one of their players all went up for it and it hit and bounced back towards me perfectly,” said the fourth-year senior. “I just saw it and said to myself ‘hit it on goal,’ and I hit it, and it was going straight to Ferid (Celosmanovic) and he spread his legs so it went right through so the keeper couldn’t see it in time.”
On second thought, I’m sure you don’t mind hearing a second viewpoint: His knuckling low liner bent through Celosmanovic’s legs, away from the diving keeper (who froze momentarily at the thought of the California Collegiate Athletic Association Offensive Player of the Year redirecting it), and tickled the side twine, momentarily turning University Soccer Stadium into a mad house.
Bradford, whose only two goals of the season have come in the Wildcats’ two NCAA Championship Tournament games, was named the Regional’s Most Valuable Offensive Player. Darr was named the Regional’s Most Valuable Defensive Player. Celosmanovic, Crim, and Nick Tedrow were the Wildcats’ other representatives on the All-Tournament Team. Grand Canyon’s Chris Green, Vieira, Ciliento, and Cordero Young were also named to the team, along with Sonoma State’s Ryan Hall and Cal State San Bernardino’s Jose Godinez.
Sunday’s win was stunningly similar to the Wildcats’ 2003 title. They trailed Cal State Dominguez Hills 1-0 late that day before Dustin Tong and potential Major League Soccer Player of the Year Chris Wondolowski scored in the game’s final six minutes to lift the Wildcats to an unbelievable victory.
And what team did they play in the National Quarterfinals? Midwestern State, the team Chico State (15-6-0) will host next Saturday at University Soccer Stadium at 1 p.m. with a spot in the Final Four on the line.
The Wildcats won that 2003 game 3-1 before advancing all the way to the National Title Game that year. Perhaps this is the year the Wildcats will complete the journey to the mountaintop.
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