Box Score The Chico State men's soccer team won a match played with playoff intensity and wrapped up a real postseason berth in the process Friday night at University Soccer Stadium.
Kramer Runager scored twice and added an assist as Chico State beat Cal State Dominguez Hills 3-1 despite playing the final 48 minutes a man down. Luis Martinez scored and dished out an assist as well, while Adam Black contributed a pair of helpers.
The Wildcats stretched their unbeaten streak to eight matches to retain their lead over Cal State L.A. atop the California Collegiate Athletic Association South Division standings.
Now that the Wildcats have punched their ticket to Turlock for the CCAA Championship Tournament, they'll set their sites on a fourth consecutive CCAA Division title. They won the last three CCAA North Division crowns before moving to the South Division this season. They lead Cal State L.A. by a point and UC San Diego by two points with Cal State L.A. coming to town Sunday, which will also serve as Senior Day for the Wildcats' 11 seniors.
A win would be a gigantic step toward that goal.
Runager scored just 57 seconds into the match and Martinez made it 2-0 in the 11th minute. It looked easier than it's supposed to against one of the top programs in the West. Then the Wildcats made it harder on themselves.
Justin Walmsley received a red card just 2:58 before the half to give the Toros life.
Chico State held serve a man down for a while thanks to some smart, strong defending and a trio of gorgeous Sam Evans saves.
Then the Toros' Alejandro Covarrubias cut the lead in half in the 66th minute, running onto a headed
clearance and smashing a low liner through traffic just inside the right post from 35 yards out.
The moment actually brought back some good memories for some in the stands. It was eerily reminiscent of the 89th-minute game winner current assistant coach Zach Bradford scored in the 2010 West Region title match.
But there was no time for reminiscing with the Toros charging hard.
Cal State Dominguez Hills kept pressing, but it was the Wildcats who scored the game changing goal. Following a Toros foul near midfield, Octavio Guzman employed a quick restart to find Martinez in open space on the left flank. Martinez smartly took the space, and when the defense converged, connected with Runager at the top of the box. Runager responded with a rocket into the right upper V for his first career brace.
Chico State, ranked No. 24 in the nation and No. 2 in the West (behind Cal State L.A.) is now 12-2-1 overall and 10-2-1 in the CCAA.
Cal State Dominguez Hills fell to 8-4-3 overall and 6-4-3 in the CCAA.
