Box Score TURLOCK – The Chico State men’s soccer team got the result it needed even if it wasn’t exactly the result it wanted. The Wildcats watched Cal State Stanislaus score the equalizer with just 24 seconds remaining in regulation and were forced to settle for a 2-2 tie in Turlock. But that was plenty to clinch the Wildcats’ third consecutive California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) North Division title and fourth postseason berth in Head Coach Felipe Restrepo’s five seasons.
Kramer Runager’s header provided Chico State the equalizer in the 55th minute and Micah Miranda’s miraculous strike from 20 yards put the Wildcats ahead 2-1 in the 87th minute. But Cal State Stanislaus’ staved off elimination, at least for 20 minutes, when Nolan Holdridge tied the match with 26 seconds remaining in regulation.
The Warriors’ desperation may have also proved to be their demise. They received seven yellow cards and a pair of red cards while committing 24 fouls, twice Chico State’s total. Jesse Horta received a straight red card in the 82nd minute and Carlos Gavino was ejected for his second yellow card with nine seconds remaining in overtime.
Cal State Stanislaus, which like Chico State had already clinched a berth in the CCAA Championship Tournament, will have to get through its regular season finale Sunday against Sonoma State without that pair.
Just as Friday night’s match did, that match could have NCAA Championship Tournament implications. The Wildcats entered Friday’s play ranked No. 4 in the West, while Cal State Stanislaus was No. 8. The top six teams, chosen and announced by a national committee on Nov. 5, will earn NCAA Championship berths.
The Wildcats, which beat Cal State Stanislaus 2-0 earlier this season in Chico, now lead the season series against the Warriors 1-0-1.
Chico State stretched its unbeaten streak to 12 matches in the process, improving to 9-2-5 overall and 8-1-5 in the CCAA. That’s the program’s longest such streak since 1978 and the Wildcats’ fourth longest ever. The Wildcats were unbeaten in the final three matches of 1970 and first 14 of 1971 for the school-record 17-match streak. The 1968 and 1977 teams each boasted 13 match unbeaten streaks.
Cal State Stanislaus is now 9-3-3 overall and 7-3-3 in the CCAA.
The Warriors got on the board in the 18th minute but couldn’t hold off the Wildcats’ offensive onslaught. Chico State outshot the hosts 23-12 and peppered the goal with five shots in a little over a minute, culminating in Runager’s equalizer. Octavio Guzman played a beautiful set piece into Jake Ward, who headed it on to Runager and he finished for his second goal of the season.
Miranda made it 2-1 Chico State with what Restrepo regailed as the goal of the year.
“He probably knocked a cobweb off the corner of the goal post,” said Restrepo.
Miranda beat one defender and then another before unleashing a rocket into the upper V from 20 yards for his fourth goal of the season and the sixth of his four-year career.
Chico State will face the second-place finisher from the South Division in the opening round of the CCAA Championship Tournament at Cal State Dominguez Hills on Friday, Nov. 2, at a time yet to be determined.
