Box Score SEASIDE – The Chico State men's soccer team finally hit a road bump on its way to the postseason Sunday, falling 2-0 at Cal State Monterey Bay and ending a 10-match unbeaten streak.
But the Wildcats will quickly leave that result in the rearview mirror and look forward to next weekend's California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Championship Tournament in Turlock.
They'll face UC San Diego in an opening-round match Friday morning at 11.
This weekend marked perhaps the most challenging portion of Chico State's road-heavy regular-season schedule. The Wildcats' 10th and 11th road contests out of 18 regular-season matches took them from San Bernardino on Friday up the coast to Seaside Sunday.
It certainly seemed as if the travel took its toll. The 22nd-ranked Wildcats allowed more than one goal for just the second time this season in falling to 13-3-2 overall and 11-3-2 in the CCAA.
Still, the Wildcats outshot their hosts 12-10, including 8-4 in the second half.
Cal State Monterey Bay finished the season 11-5-2 overall and 9-5-2 in the CCAA. However, the Otters were hit with CCAA sanctions on Friday evening. The CCAA's Executive Council took 11 points away from the Otters, found to have played an ineligible student-athlete during a trio of matches between Sept. 13 and Sept. 22, effectively ending the Otters' postseason bid.
Chico State is in the postseason for the fourth straight season and fifth in Head Coach Felipe Restrepo's sixth season at the helm.
The Wildcats and UC San Diego split the season series with each team winning by a score of 1-0.