The Chico State men's soccer team knows what it has to do to earn a berth in next month's California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Championship Tournament – win out. The Wildcats held up their end of the bargain Sunday afternoon, spotting Cal State San Marcos an early first period goal before booting home two of their own to top the visiting Cougars 2-1 at University Soccer Stadium.
Andrew Matthews tied with season
high with seven saves on Sunday.The win evened Chico State's record at 6-6-3 overall and 4-4-2 in the CCAA. With two home matches to play, the Wildcats are in eighth place in the conference standings, but just two points behind seventh-place Cal State Monterey Bay (which they host Thursday) and five behind fourth-place UC San Diego, which has no more conference matches remaining. With the top six teams going to the CCAA Championship Tournament, the 'Cats can punch their ticket to the postseason with two wins.
Things didn't start well for the Wildcats Sunday, as a goal by Omar Murillo at the 8:10 mark was waved off by the officials on an offsides call. Cal State San Marcos got on the board three minutes later, as Louie Farfan jumped on a deflected pass in front of the Chico State goal and booted it home from 30 yards out to give the Cougars a 1-0 lead.
The 'Cats defense proceeded to go into lockdown mode, denying San Marcos another score for the final 78 minutes of the contest.
In the 24th minute, Omar Nuno was on the receiving end of a beautiful Carter Johnson pass and punched a sliding kick towards the Cougars' goal that had just enough juice to squeeze through for a score. Nuno's ninth goal of the season tied up the contest at 1-1.
Ten minutes later, Frankie Palmer scored what proved to be the match winner. Matthew Tarr provided a cross pass to Palmer, who delivered a header that threaded the needle between San Marcos goalie Zach Sheppard and the near post, putting Chico State on top 2-1.
The Wildcats and Cougars battled to a scoreless second half, and though San Marcos got off four shots in the final 17 minutes (including a desperation boot with 19 seconds to play), Chico State goalie Andrew Matthews came through with a pair of clutch saves, and the 'Cats held on for a big 2-1 victory.
San Marcos outshot the Wildcats 14-6 and posted a 5-1 edge in corner kicks. Matthews finished the day matching his season high of seven saves.
Chico State returns to University Soccer Stadium Thursday to take on Cal State Monterey Bay beginning at 7 p.m. A Wildcat win would knock the Otters out of postseason contention.They'll wrap up the regular season Saturday at 4:30 against San Francisco State.
