On the same day she was awarded CoSIDA Academic All-District honors, Lindsey Dias put together an A+ performance on the pitch to lift the Chico State women's soccer team to a 3-1 victory against Cal State Monterey Bay and into the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Championship Tournament.
 
Dias delivered two goals and an assist in a stellar second half for the Wildcats, who clinched their eighth postseason berth in the past 12 seasons with the win.
 

Chico State, which improved to 11-4-2 overall and 7-3-1 in the CCAA, moved into a three-way tie for second place in the conference standings with just one match to play, Saturday at home against San Francisco State at 2 p.m.
 
The Wildcats could finish as high as second, earning a first-round bye into the Championship Tournament semifinals in Pomona. They need a better result than Cal State L.A. (at Cal State East Bay) Saturday to get there.
 
Otherwise, they'll likely be the No. 3 seed or No. 4 seed and host a first-round match Tuesday night at 7. It appears that the lone scenario that puts the Wildcats on the road Tuesday would be a loss, combined with a win by Cal Poly Pomona at first-place Sonoma State and a Cal State L.A. loss at Cal State East Bay.
 
Dias, and teammates Cassi Scroggins and Katie Brown were all announced as part of the 11-woman West Region Division II Academic All-District team Tuesday morning. For more on that story, click the link at the end of this one.
 
Cal State Monterey Bay tried to wreck the vibe, however, scoring just 2:08 into the match to take the lead. The Otters (6-11-1, 3-8-1 CCAA) were motivating, playing in their final match of the season.
 
The Otters kept the lead into the half, thanks in part to an offside call that wiped away what looked like a Scroggins goal.
 
But the second half belonged to Dias and Chico State. They tied the score in the 52^nd minute when, from the top-right corner of the box, Dias one-timed Shelby Lanksbury's pass to Pooja Patel who was on a diagonal run toward the near post. Patel touched it once to her right and then hit it back against the momentum of the keeper toward the left corner of the net for her team-leading eighth goal of the season.
 
The assist was Dias' sixth and Lanksbury has three.
 
Patel's stand atop the team's goal leaders didn't last much longer.
 
Dias scored her fourth game-winning goal of the season in the 64^th minute, an unassisted strike from the top of the 18-yard box. She won a 50-50 ball following Brooke Coelho's cross, cut it back to her left, and then hit the target just inside the left post with a left-footed strike.
 
She tied Patel for the team lead with exactly one minute left to play.
 

The Wildcats played the ball out to Carlie Reader on a free kick from just outside of the box in an effort to waste time. When Reader dribbled to the end line, however, she spotted Dias at the near post. Dias got a touch on the pass to poke it away from the goalkeeper and then bent it into the far-corner netting for her second brace of the season.
 
The assist was the sixth of the season for the true freshman Reader. Following today's game, Patel leads the CCAA with 24 points and Dias is second with 22. The true freshman Reader is 15^th with 12.
 
Wildcats goalkeeper Mackenzie Boultoncollected her 10^th win between the pipes with a trio of saves, tying her for ninth on the school's single-season wins list. She's already tied for eighth in shutouts with seven.
 
Sunday's match, which doubles as Senior Day for the Wildcats, will feature plenty of intrigue as Chico State jockeys for postseason position and San Francisco State desperate for a victory that could propel it into the playoffs.
 
Chico State will also be hoping to build upon its NCAA Tournament resume. The Wildcats are ranked No. 6 in the West Region, which will get six spots in the NCAA Tournament.
 
From earlier Tuesday: "BROWN, DIAS, SCROGGINS SCORE ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT ACCOLADES"