After a bit of a rocky start, the Chico State men's soccer team starting rolling, and kept rolling: right into the postseason and the record books.
 
Andrew McCombs scored the 22^nd hat trick in the program's history and the first by a freshman since Chris Wondolowski, leading the Wildcats to a 6-2 victory that clinched them a berth in the California Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament.
 
The Wildcats' six goals are their most since Sept. 17, 2008.
 
Donta'e Garcia, Jeremiah Egujie, McCombs, and Justin Bethke all scored first-half goals, and McCombs netted two more after the break as the Wildcats kept a firm grip on their own destiny in the race for the CCAA title. The Wildcats improved to 9-4-1 overall and 7-1-1 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association. With three matches remaining, they can secure the title by winning out.
 
The Wildcats also built on their already strong NCAA Championship Tournament resume. Chico State entered the weekend ranked No. 7 in the West. The CCAA Tournament champion and winners of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference and PacWest Conference will receive automatic bids, with the three remaining berths going to the three highest-ranked teams remaining.
 
Cal State East Bay fell to 3-10-2 and 0-8-1 in the CCAA.
 

The Wildcats opened the scoring in the 10^th minute when Eruvey Arceta's blast from the top of the 18-yard box was parried away before falling to Donta'e Garcia at the top-right corner of the 6-yard box where he hammered it home.
 
The Pioneers answered less than 10 minutes later. Luis Salazar cracked one into the box outside of the left post. The ball bounced off a defender and TJ Butler pounced, pounding it home inside the near post.
 
Chico State took the lead for good in the 22^nd minute. Joshua Belda played a beautiful counter ball over the top of the defense and down the left flank for Egujie. He outran two defenders to the ball, dribbled into the box while shielding a defender with his right shoulder, and beat the keeper to the near post.
 
Goalkeeper Damion Lewis kept the Wildcats afloat early with a number of magical saves, buying them time to get their footing. Once they did, the route was on.
 
The Wildcats added a third goal with 8:58 left in the half, and it may have been their prettiest yet. Defenders Justin Bethke split two defenders and then passed ahead to Fabian Roman to start the counter. Roman played a quick ball outside to Dylan Wakefield­. McCombs, meanwhile, was running hard toward the mouth of the goal, and when Wakefield played his cross, McCombs leapt over his defender to get a head on it, beating the keeper to the near post.
 
Wakefield returned after missing six matches with an injury and quickly made his presence felt, delivering the assist 15 minutes after checking into the match.
 
The goal was the first of the true freshman McCombs' collegiate career. But he didn't stop there.
 
The Wildcats made it 4-1 with 2:18 left in the half. Mikey Hirsch set things up by drawing a foul 30 yards from the goal. Christian Roman hit the free kick to the left side of the mass of bodies in the box and Justin Bethke, looping around from the back, beat the defense to it and directed it home with a header. 
 
McCombs exhibited a very different skill set for his second goal, which came in 74^th minute. After Belda fed him with a pass up the left wing, McCombs cut inside to beat one defender, dribbled around another, and then unleashed a banger from 20 yards inside the far post.
 
He completed the trick with a little more than eight minutes to go. Michael Hirsch hit him with a pass near midfield and McCombs did the rest, weaving through the defense to the top of the box before beating the hard-charging keeper inside the right post.
 
McCombs and Egujie (who netted a hat trick on Sept. 17 at Cal State San Marcos) are the first Chico State teammates do accomplish the feat in the same season since 1992 when Kevin Eagleston and Michael Cruickshank did it.
 
McCombs joins a group of six Wildcats who have scored three or more goals as a freshman. Wondolowski, an MLS Golden Boot winner and League MVP, was the last, in 2001. Prior to Wondolowski, Arturo Barragan did it twice in 1999, acclaimed recording artist Mat Kearney in 1997, and the aforementioned Eagleston (1992) and Cruickshank (1989).
 
The Wildcats hope to continue their roll Sunday when they host Cal State Monterey Bay at 2 p.m. in their final regular season home match. The team's eight seniors—Garcia, Wakefield, Triston Montoya, Frankie Palmer, Carter Johnson, Christian Roman, Matthew Tarr, and Sasha Peranteau—will be honored prior to kickoff, so fans wanting to celebrate their careers should arrive early.