On the same weekend the eyes of the baseball world will be on San Francisco for the battle for California bragging rights between the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers, the eyes of California’s collegiate soccer community will be on Chico when the 3rd-ranked Chico State women’s soccer program, ranked No. 1 in the West, takes on two of the West’s other top 10 teams.
The Wildcats host West No. 5 Cal State L.A. Friday at 7 p.m. in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) opener and a rematch of last season’s NCAA Championship Tournament West Region title match. West No. 10 Cal State Dominguez Hills visits Sunday afternoon at 2. Both matches will be played at University Soccer Stadium.
Chico State is off to a 2-0 start thanks to victories of 1-0 over Western Washington and 3-0 over Dominican University. The Wildcats have registered five shutouts in their past six matches dating back to last season’s NCAA Championship Tournament.
Cal State L.A. is 1-0-1, having tied Dixie State 2-2 in its season opener before beating Grand Canyon 2-0 Saturday. The Golden Eagles will certainly be looking for some revenge. Chico State beat Cal State L.A. 1-0 in the opening round of last year’s CCAA Championship Tournament on Shelby Dunlap’s 48th-minute goal and then claimed the West Region title in L.A., winning a shootout over the Golden Eagles 4-3.
Cal State Dominguez Hills, which will play at 13th-ranked Cal State Stanislaus Friday before continuing north to Chico, enters the weekend 1-0-1 after beating Azusa Pacific 2-1 in overtime in its season opener and then settling for a 1-1 draw against Cal Baptist Saturday.
The Toros lead the all-time series between the teams 12-9-1, but Chico State has won six of the last eight meetings.