ARCATA – It was another great day to be a Wildcat Friday. The Chico State men’s soccer team came from behind to beat Humboldt State 2-1 to clinch its second straight California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) North Division title. After watching host Humboldt State score just 1:34 into the match, Cody Levar evened things with 40th-minute strike and freshman Adam Black notched his second straight game-winning goal in the 51st minute to lift the Wildcats to their fifth straight win.

That victory, combined with Sonoma State’s scoreless draw against Cal State Stanislaus, clinched the North Division crown for the Wildcats and a berth in next weekend’s CCAA Championship Tournament that comes with it.

The Wildcats, now 11-3-3 overall and 10-3-2 in the CCAA, will wrap up the regular season at Sonoma State Sunday in an 11:30 a.m. match. Though it won’t determine the Wildcats’ postseason fate or the North Division Champion, as it seemed it might heading into the weekend, the match is still important on many levels for the Wildcats.

As the 4th-ranked team in the West Region, every win the Wildcats can muster is important. Four teams will be chosen by a committee on Nov. 7 to represent the West Region in the NCAA Championship Tournament. Also at stake could be the top seed in the CCAA Championship Tournament. Chico State, Cal State Dominguez Hills and Cal State L.A. all entered the day with 29 points. Chico State and Cal State L.A. won Friday afternoon. Cal State Dominguez Hills plays at Cal State East Bay Friday evening. Revenge will also be on the minds of the Wildcats, who lost their home opener to the Seawolves 2-0 back in early September.

But Chico State is a different team now. The Wildcats are 8-1-1 in their last 10 matches and riding a conference best five-match winning streak.

They struggled out of the gate Friday, allowing that early goal. But goalkeeper Sam Evans was up to the task after that, turning away four second-half shots.

And the Wildcats’ offense, brilliant of late, put together its third consecutive multi-goal outing. They got on the board to tie the match after winning a goal kick and the second ball. Evan Johnston got deep into the corner and crossed a bouncing ball in to Levar. The redshirt freshman got on top of it and knocked it home for his second goal of the season.

Black, who netted his first collegiate goal in Sunday’s win against Cal State Monterey Bay, struck home the game winner for the second straight match. Johnston’s fourth corner kick in the first four-plus minutes of the half got things started. Tyson Crim collected an attempted clearance and quickly found Nick Tedrow, whose pass set up Black for a chip shot over the charging goalkeeper.

This marks Chico State’s fourth North Division title overall. The Wildcats won it in 1998, 2003, 2010 and now 2011. This is the team’s third CCAA Championship Tournament berth in four seasons under Head Coach Felipe Restrepo. They advanced to the postseason in his first season, 2008, as well as last season and now this season.

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