A strong opening weekend propelled the Chico State women's soccer team into the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Top 25 poll. Beginning Wednesday, the 24^th-ranked Wildcats will play three times in five days in their final tuneups before California Collegiate Athletic Association action.
 
The Wildcats' home opener is Wednesday night at 7 against Seattle Pacific. They face Holy Names Friday at 7 p.m. They'll wrap up their homestand Sunday at 11:30 a.m. against Academy of Art.
 
Chico State is 1-0-1 after beating California Baptist 2-1 in a double-overtime thriller in Riverside and playing to a scoreless draw at Azusa Pacific.
 
Korie Bozart was the somewhat unlikely hero in the season-opener on Thursday, driving home a long free kick in the waning moments of double overtime in her first official match in a Chico uniform.
 
The strong start lifted the Wildcats to No. 3 in the NSCAA's West Region rankings as well. Seattle Pacific is No. 7 in the West after a pair of 1-0 wins against Humboldt State and Dixie State in Portland. Great Northwest Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week Molly Stinson made eight saves in recording the two shutouts.
 
Holy Names will be playing its season opener Friday. The Hawks finished 6-11 last season and return a dozen letterwinners.
 
Academy of Art heads into a Wednesday home match against Western Oregon 0-2 after falling to Simon Fraser 2-0 and third-ranked Western Washington 3-0 last weekend.
 
Fans who can't make it out to University Soccer Stadium can catch all of the action by following live stats or watching streaming video. Links are in the calendar section on the homepage and women's soccer schedule page.