ARCATA – Weeks of pent up frustration dissolved in a blur of cardinal-clad bodies racing to mob Matt Hurlow after his match-winning penalty kick in the fourth minute of overtime.
Hurlow scored in the 20
th minute and then netted the golden goal 3:36 into overtime to lift the Chico State men's soccer team to a thrilling 2-1 win at first-place Humboldt State Friday afternoon in Arcata, snapping a maddening four-match winless streak.
Hurlow headed in Sean Gallagher's long throw-in 19:40 into the match, beating Humboldt State goalkeeper Javier Torres to his right, to stake the Wildcats to a 1-0 lead.
Akwafei Ajeakwa drew a foul in the box to set up the
winning PK.The Wildcats were the first-half aggressors once again. They've outscored their opponents 6-1 in the opening stanza.
However, it looked like the Wildcats' late-match woes might continue when the Lumberjacks equalized in the 60
th minute and took control of the match that eventually moved into overtime.
That all changed when Torres took down Akwafei Ajeakwa just inside the box with a ferocious tackle. Torres was red carded and the Wildcats awarded a penalty kick. Hurlow had plenty of time to out-think himself as Ajeakwa was attended to and then Humboldt State backup goalkeeper Chris Bean was brought on to take over.
Hurlow hit a low bouncer to beat Bean to his right side, setting off a wild Chico State celebration.
The Wildcats improved to 6-4-1 overall and 1-4-0 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association, while Humboldt State dipped to 8-2-1 overall and 4-1-0 in the CCAA.
Chico State will face another longtime rival Sunday when they face Sonoma State at 11:30 a.m. Following that match they'll play four of their last five at home.
