The van ride north to the Bay Area won’t be a fun one. But it will at least by the second to last one in a long while for the Chico State men’s soccer team. Playing their sixth road match in the last 25 days, the Wildcats suffered a disappointing 2-1 loss at Cal State Monterey Bay Friday. They’ll play their seventh away game in 27 days on Sunday at Cal State East Bay before returning home. They’ll enjoy the friendly confines of University Soccer Stadium for four straight matches and six of their final 10 regular season affairs of the season.
Tyson Crim slipped a pass to Ferid Celosmanovic to beat an offside trap and Celosmanovic put it in the back of the net for his fifth goal of the season, trimming the Wildcats’ deficit to 2-1 in the 55th minute. But despite enjoying a 12-8 advantage in shots and 8-3 edge in corner kicks, the Wildcats couldn’t convert the equalizer.
The Wildcats, ranked No. 4 in the West region entering the weekend, dipped to 3-2-2 overall and 2-2-1 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) in suffering their first road loss of the year. Cal State Monterey Bay improved to 2-3-1 overall and 2-2-1 in the CCAA, moving into a tie for second with the Wildcats in the CCAA North Division standings. However, Cal State Stanislaus could leapfrog both teams with a win at Cal State East Bay this afternoon.
Servando Perez opened the scoring in the 10th minute. He chipped a shot over Wildcats goalkeeper James Stroud after getting on the end of Conor Delaney’s long through ball. Otters goalkeeper Sam Campanelli made four saves in that first half as the Wildcats fired eight shots in all. Celosmanovic had three first-half shots turned away and Chris Akwaja another.
Perez helped get the Otters on the board again early in the second half with a long run down the field and then pass to George Plakorus who knocked it in for a 2-0 lead just over four minutes into the second period.
Celosmanovic’s goal (the 18th of his career in 28 matches) came on the Wildcats’ first shot after intermission. The Wildcats threatened to tie the match with a flurry of shots and corner kicks during the following eight minutes, but never got anything on frame. Celosmanovic’s corner kick was followed by a shot that missed wide by Crim. Celosmanovic then missed wide. Three more corner kicks came before Luke Palmer forced a shot high in the 70th minute. But that was the last shot of the day for Chico State, which did earn two more corner kicks but failed to turn them into anything of significance.
Cal State Monterey Bay improved to 2-0-1 at home with the win, the best home start in the program’s history.
The Wildcats will try to rebound with a victory at Cal State East Bay Sunday at 11:30 AM. Live stats will be available at www.ccaalivestats.com. They’ll play just their second home match of the season Friday, Oct. 30 at 7 PM against Cal State Stanislaus.
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