Fabian Roman keeps trying to convince his teammates that he's six feet tall. The junior transfer from Cal State Northridge is listed on the roster as 5-foot-10, but his story gets legs every time he scores a header. For the second time this week, Roman rose above the defense to deposit the game-winner with a far-post header, lifting the Wildcats to a 1-0 victory over visiting San Francisco State Friday at University Soccer Stadium.
 
Friday's finish was Roman's most important yet. The Wildcats were relentless in the attack against the unbeaten Gators, but nearly 80 minutes in, had not broken through. Then Jeremiah Egujie put together one of his nicer runs of the day, dribbling down the field and through the teeth of the defense. After drawing a crowd, he pushed a pass to Eruvey Arceta just beyond the right side of the box. Already the team's leader in assists, Arceta added to that number, whipping a cross to the far post for Roman to redirect inside the near post.
 
Chico State improved to 6-2-0 overall and retained its hold on the top spot in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) standings at 4-0-0 with its fourth straight clean sheet to start conference play.  
San Francisco State slipped to 5-1-0. Friday was the Gators' first CCAA match of the season.

 
San Francisco State had scored two or more goals in each of its first five matches, totaling 43 shots on goal coming into play. But the Wildcats' back line of Joshua Belda, Coby Cueva, Ryan Caro, and Justin Bethke limited the Gators to 10 total shots and only four on goal.
 
On the rare occasion they did find and opening, Wildcats keeper Damion Lewis was up to the challenge, tallying four saves to earn his fourth consecutive shutout and his ninth as a Wildcat.
 
Chico State enjoyed a 12-3 advantage in first-half shots, including a 4-1 edge in shots on goal. They out-shot the Gators 12-7 in the second half and earned six more shots on goal.
 
Roman has now scored three goals this season, while Arceta has assisted on five of the Wildcats' 14 goals. Egujie's assist was his first of the season, but he proved Friday that when he draws a crowd he's willing to let his teammates work. He set up teammates nicely on a number of occasions.
 
Chico State will take a six-match road winning streak to Humboldt State next Friday at 3 p.m. They'll finish the weekend at rival Sonoma State Sunday at 2 p.m.