TURLOCK – Size wasn’t on Shelby Dunlap’s side. She didn’t need it. The diminutive 5-foot-1 Dunlap rose up over a taller defender to score a header for the long goal of the match as the Chico State women’s soccer team beat Cal State L.A. 1-0 in the opening match of the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Championship at Warrior Stadium on the campus of Cal State Stanislaus.

“I think my adrenaline took me up a little bit higher,” said the junior.

While adrenaline may have played a part, Dunlap deserves the majority of the credit. She’s scored four goals and dished out a trio of assists in seven matches since Wildcats Head Coach Kim Sutton moved her up from left back to a starting forward spot.

With its sixth straight win, Chico State improved to 11-5-3 while rising into the CCAA Championship Tournament final with its sixth straight win. The Wildcats will face No. 4 seed Cal State Stanislaus Sunday at 11:30 a.m. for the conference title. The Warriors upset top-seeded UC San Diego 2-1 Friday afternoon.

The CCAA champion receives an automatic berth in the NCAA Championship Tournament. That AQ might be exactly what the Wildcats need, though after today’s big win it’s tough to say. They entered the weekend ranked No. 7 in the West Region and Cal State L.A. (now 10-3-4) was No. 2. The champions of the region’s three conferences and the next three highest ranked teams received NCAA Tournament bids.

A win Sunday would remove all the mystery for the Wildcats, coming off their sixth CCAA North Division Championship in eight seasons. They’ll be playing in the tournament’s title match for the fourth time in eight years. The Wildcats lost title matchs in 2004 and 2006 and won the championship on penalty kicks against Cal State L.A. in 2007.

If they play defense like they did Friday, they’ll certainly give themselves a good chance to win another. The Wildcats held Cal State L.A. without a shot in the first half, and though the Golden Eagles got off eight shots in the second half once the Wildcats began to pack in a bit, only one of those was on goal.
Freshman goalkeeper Brianna Furner was up to the task, saving Lisa Ohlberg’s try as she and the back line of Singer, Molly Downtain, Danielle Leiva and Kelly Skelton helped the Wildcats register their third shutout in four matches and seventh on the season.

“Defensively we executed the game plan almost perfectly,” said Sutton, who guided the Wildcats to their sixth CCAA North Division title in the last eight seasons. “The first half was flawless.”
That defensive dominance helped the Wildcats control play for much of the opening half. They spent a good chunk of time in the box and earned five corner kicks. But though the Golden Eagles defense bent, it did not break.

The Wildcats almost broke the seal in the 36th minute with the half’s only major scoring threat. Blake Lopes and Kasey Wall played a beautiful give-and-go near the top-left corner of the box and Lopes found Lisa Webster about 15 feet from the mouth of the goal. The senior striker maneuvered to her left to find an opening and hit a blast toward the far post that Golden Eagles goalkeeper Jessie Walworth knocked just wide with a dive and stretch of her left hand.

She couldn’t stop Dunlap’s strike three minutes into the second half, however.

Carly Singer took a pass from Scotie Walker and worked her way down the right flank before playing a hard cross to Dunlap one-on-one in the box with a Golden Eagles defender. Dunlap won the battle to get a head on the ball, flicking it backward and over Walworth, who was coming out to challenge. A Golden Eagles defender made a desperate attempt to keep it from breaking the plane, but could not get enough of the ball to stop it from bouncing home just inside the right post.

Dunlap’s defensive experience has helped her up top, she says.

“I spent a lot of seasons winning headers in the box on defense. I’ve learned how to time my jump and how to position myself. It’s essentially the same thing. It’s just heading it in the opposite direction.”

Singer is another defender who has made huge contributions to the offense. Her assist was her fourth of the season and eighth of her two-year career. 

“Her pass was right on the money,” said Dunlap.

Now we’ll see if the Wildcats can cash in with a CCAA Championship Tournament title on Sunday.

The match will be televised on Comcast Hometown Network for Comcast cable subscribers. The broadcast feed also will be streamed live through Stretch Internet at www.goccaa.org.

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