All of the smiles and a few tears of joy shed during the Chico State women's soccer team's 2017 pre-game Senior Day ceremony gave way to laughter and exultation during the match. The Wildcats wrapped up their home schedule with a laugher—a 4–0 victory over Cal State Monterey Bay.
 
Pooja Patel, one of the team's three seniors, scored a penalty kick and dished out an assist, becoming the ninth Wildcat ever to reach 50 career points, and the third to log 20 career assists. Midfielder Courtney Sharrah banged out four shots, and along with fellow senior Brooke Coelho, helped anchor a dominant defensive effort.
 
Claire Abele and Brenna Meier each played one half in goal, registering two saves apiece in the Wildcats' seventh shutout of the season.

 

Chico State improved to 5-4-1 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) and rose into a tie for fifth place in the conference standings with two matches to play. The top six teams will advance to the CCAA Tournament.
 
Chico State out-shot the Otters 20-4 while improving to 9-5-1 overall. Cal State Monterey Bay fell to 5-8-3 overall and 2-7-1 in the CCAA.
 
The Wildcats, 8-0-1 at University Soccer Stadium this season, are unbeaten (11-0-2) in their last 13 home matches.
 
They took the lead 52 seconds into Sunday's match and never looked back. Patel's shot from the top of the 18-yard box was tipped off the crossbar, but defender Abbie Jones was there to clean it up, heading home the rebound from 10 yards for her second goal of the season.
 
The assist was the 20^th of Patel's career, moving her into sole possession of third place on the program's career assists list.
 
The Wildcats' lead doubled on an own goal in the 27^th minute before they tacked on another goal in the 38^th minute on Patel's PK. Brielynn Tovani drew the foul in the box and immediately pointed to Patel to take the PK. That was notable after Patel had a PK saved on Friday.
 
She didn't miss Sunday, rewarding her teammates' confidence by burying the shot into the upper-V for her 15^th career tally.
 
Chico State scored its fourth goal seven minutes into the second half when Jordan Doukakis and Patel played the ball down the field before Doukakis dunked a pass to Korie Bozart. The defender's impressive blast from 40 yards found the far upper-V for a 4–0 lead. It was her second goal of the season and the freshman Doukakis' third helper in the last four matches.
 
The Wildcats have two regular-season matches remaining. They'll play at Cal State Dominguez Hills Thursday at 7 p.m. and at Cal State LA Saturday at 2 p.m.