Recent downpours have left Chico State’s soccer turf half soaked. Or, as the women’s soccer team sees it, half drained.
This is a team full of optimists, after all. And it’s a good thing. While other programs view a visit from UC San Diego (the No. 2 team in the country) as something to dread, the Wildcats see it as an opportunity. With a good showing Friday night, the Wildcats can not only solidify their spot atop the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) North Division standings, but they can also send a message to the NCAA West Region Soccer Committee that the Wildcats are a team to be considered among the best in the west.
Chico State, 5-2-1 in the CCAA and 5-3-2 overall, brings a four-match unbeaten streak into the 7 PM affair on “Think Pink” night at University Soccer Stadium. CCAA South Division leader UC San Diego is 8-0-2 overall and 7-0-1 in the CCAA, having won six matches in a row by a combined score of 21-2.
The Wildcats welcome the challenge UC San Diego presents, in part because seven of their veteran players were part of their 2-0 victory over the Tritons the last time they visited Chico in 2009. Current player Lisa Webster scored in the 71st and 72nd minute of that win. In fact, the Wildcats have won three of the last five matchups between these teams in Chico and three of the last six regular-season matchups overall.
The Wildcats’ 3-4-0 record against the Tritons since the 2006 is the best of any CCAA team, in fact.
Chico State’s continued “success” against the Tritons is dependent on a number of variables. The Wildcats will likely need another strong outing from Webster, one of the best strikers in the program’s history and the owner of three career goals against UC San Diego. A third straight match with a goal from Kasey Wall would also certainly help. Neither of those tasks will be easy. UC San Diego has allowed just three goals all season and never more than one in a match.
Defensively, the Wildcats will have to contain Hayley Johnson, who has tallied an assist in five straight matches and has recorded multiple assists in three of those contests. She’s averaging the most assists per game (1.00) of any player in the nation who has played in at least 10 matches this season. Sarah McTigue, who has scored in each of UC San Diego’s last three matches and leads the Tritons with six goals (and 24 over the past two and a half seasons), is another player the Wildcats will need to limit.
Chico State’s ever-improving defense might be up to the task. True freshman goalkeeper Brianna Furner and the back line have allowed just four goals in the past six matches, and never more than one during that time.
The defense might be tested again on Sunday with the arrival of Cal State San Bernardino to University Soccer Stadium for a 2 PM showdown. The Coyotes, 4-5-1 overall and 2-5-1 in the CCAA, are coming off a 10-goal weekend against Cal State East Bay and Cal State Monterey Bay after being shutout in three straight.
The Wildcats are 5-1-2 against Cal State San Bernardino since 2003, including a 2-1 win in Chico in which Webster and Denni Jo Berger scored.
