Box Score LA JOLLA – Sam Evans played perhaps the best match of his career and Kramer Runager headed home the winning goal in the 63^rd minute to send the Chico State men's soccer team into the second round of the NCAA Championship Tournament with a 1-0 win against long-standing rival Seattle Pacific Thursday afternoon on the campus of UC San Diego.
 
The Wildcats will take on UC San Diego Saturday at 7 p.m. with a spot in the Sweet 16 on the line.
 
Evans, a native of Snoqualmie, Wash., matched his career high with five saves and set a Chico State record with his 23^rd career shutout. And he did it against a Seattle-based Falcons team whose alumni coached him on numerous teams throughout his youth.
 
"When we recruited Sam we felt like he had the potential to be a game changer," said Wildcats Head Coach Felipe Restrepo. "Over the course of his career, and especially this season, he's shown flashes of that. But today was the biggest game of his career."
 
"For me, the most satisfying part is that no one works harder than Sam. He's a type-A guy. He just works harder then everybody else and that has made him a better goalkeeper not just from his freshman year to his senior year, but even from the start of this season to now. You see constant improvement."
 
All three of the Wildcats involved in the lone goal fit in that description as well.

• Runager relies on his ability to outwork a defense, and did just that Thursday, rising up and over defenders draped at each of his sides to get a head on the game winner.
• Martinez is tiny, much like the town he hails from, and rumor has there are legendary videos depicting hardscrabble workouts he developed while turning corn into tortillas for his family's business.
• Guzman had to work to put himself through two years of community college before Restrepo finally wooed him to Chico State to achieve his dream of playing collegiate soccer.

CLICK HERE for a photo gallery depicting the moments surrounding the game-winning goal and another gallery of the match.

Tyson Crim won a ball at midfield and delivered it to Guzman to set up the winning goal. Guzman angled a pass to put Martinez in space down the left sideline. The senior from Olivehurst cracked a cross that got just over the boot of a defender and curled right to the top of the six-yard box. After racing to the spot Runager rose, splitting two defenders, and deposited the ball about two feet inside the far post.
 
"It started out as a little combo between myself, Tavo and Tyson," said Martinez, who notched his 13^th career assist. "I just crossed it in for Kramer and he got on the end of it."
 
Guzman also received credit for an assist, giving him 15 and tying him with Crim and three others for the 10^th most helpers in school history.
 
The Wildcats held on from there despite extreme pressure from SPU. The Falcons piled up six shots in the final 20 minutes, but Evans made a pair of nice saves and other attempts were just off the mark.
 
Evans popped a flicked header just over the crossbar in the 88^th minute and then the Falcons misfired on a free kick from 25 yards with four seconds to play, ending the match.
 
But it was the save Evans made of a header off a corner kick two minutes into the second half that had the stadium buzzing.
 
"I saw that it was a good cross and I just dropped back to my line," said Evans. "I lost site of it in the crowd in front for a moment. But then it reappeared and I saw their player get a head on it and I just got a hand on it and hit it wide."
 
Runager scored 15 minutes later, and the Wildcats are headed to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the ninth time in the program's history and second time in the last four seasons. They weren't completely satisfied, however.
 
"We've got to get better boys," shouted Crim as the Wildcats walked toward the far side of the field to salute a committed contingent of Chico State fans.
 
They will likely need to be better if they are to advance past UC San Diego Saturday. The Tritons took two of three meetings between the teams in the regular season, though all were tightly-contested affairs.
 
Evans expects nothing less than an excellent effort.
 
"There's a high standard we've set for ourselves," he said. "Everyone holds each other accountable to that standard."
 
A number of Wildcats met that standard Thursday. Restrepo was quick to praise the play of holding midfielder Russ Ellyson, who made his first career start.
 
"We didn't miss a beat with Russ in there," said Restrepo. "He hasn't had many opportunities to show it, but I think today we saw that he's one of the best midfielders in the conference."
 
Restrepo also credited Martinez with his best game of the season.
 
"It's been an incredible journey from the very beginning," said Martinez. "We just want to ride out for as long as we can."