BELLINGHAM, Washington—Had it cashed in a tie at Western Washington Saturday, the Chico State men's soccer team would have headed home with a very successful weekend in its rearview mirror. Instead, the Wildcats struck gold.
 
Jeremiah Egujie scored the golden goal with 12 seconds remaining in the second sudden-victory overtime period—a goal as stunning for its skillfulness as its timeliness—to send the Wildcats home with a 3–2 victory and opening-weekend sweep of perennial West Region powerhouses Seattle Pacific and Western Washington.
 
Time was quickly running out for the Wildcats, who enjoyed a 15-7 advantage in shots from the second half on. Four of those were saved and another hit the post. Western Washington was in its attacking third with 25 seconds remaining when a Egujie won a clearance near midfield. Using exceptional touch and blazing speed, Egujie outmaneuvered a trio of defenders to make his way into the box and then hit the corner of the net from 12 yards out.
 
Even his teammates failed to slow him down as he sprinted from that end of the pitch to the other, evading them as they raced to tackle him in celebration.
 

"Jeremiah is cut from the same cloth as some of the greats we've had play here," said Wildcats Head Coach Felipe Restrepo. "With his combination of size, speed, athleticism, and skill, when he gets moving, good luck.
 
"I think our depth really helped us today. We were running at their back third all game. I think that allowed Jeremiah to take advantage of their fatigue."
 
The Wildcats finished with 23 shots, nearly twice as many as Sonoma State had in a 2–1 victory over the Vikings on Thursday in Bellingham.
 
Chico State beat Seattle Pacific 2–1 on Egujie's match winner in the 88^th minute Thursday.
 
But the Wildcats fell behind early at Western Washington, allowing what Restrepo described as a disappointing 'soft goal' 9:55 in.
 
They fought back, however, tallying twice in the opening 23 minutes of the second half.
 
The buildup to both goals was as impressive as the goals themselves. Sasha Peranteau set up the first, driving a cross from the top-left corner of the box to the far post where Frankie Palmer headed it home in the 53^rd minute.
 
The Wildcats took the lead in the 68^th minute. True freshmen Eruvey Arceta and Andrew McCombs played a give-and-go to get the Vikings defense out of sorts before Arceta laid it off to Esten Schroeder at the top of the box. Schroeder made it count with a banger into the far upper-V.
 
Western Washington got the equalizer off a rebound of Damion Lewis' save in the 80^th minute despite the Wildcats' calls for a hand ball, having believed that Anthony Dean deflected the ball with his hand before his tying header.
 
The Wildcats left Bellingham with a win anyway. They will play their home opener Thursday at 4:30 against Point Loma.
 
"This was a great sign of how special this group is and how determined they are," said Restrepo. "It was definitely a collective effort today and all 19 who played contributed to the win."