ARCATA—Alex Fluitt says he always brings his Magic 8-Ball to get questions answered during road trips with the Chico State men's soccer team. The Wildcats' outlook was not so good for much of Friday's match at Humboldt State. Then Fluitt shook things up.
 
The fifth-year senior scored on a free kick from 28 yards out to tie the match in the 75^th minute and then assisted on Ronan McEnroe's match-winning deflection with just 21 seconds to play in the Wildcats' 2-1 win at College Creek Soccer Field in Arcata.
 
The goal was the first of Fluitt's collegiate career. The assist is his 11^th.
 
The Wildcats, who improved to 6-1-0 overall and 2-1-0 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association, have now won 11 straight and 14 of their last 15 matchups against the rival Lumberjacks. They entered the weekend ranked No. 5 in the West Region by the United Soccer Coaches.
 
Humboldt State, which was playing its first home match of the season, fell to 4-3-0 overall and 0-2-0 in the CCAA.
 
Chico State fell behind just 4:36 into the match on a penalty kick goal. Goalkeeper Jose Paredes played a short goal kick to Garrett Hogbin on the right side of the 18-yard box, and while looking for a pass, Hogbin had the ball poked away. As he battled a Lumberjack to regain control of the ball, his opponent hit the turf and Hogbin was whistled for a foul two yards inside of the box.
 
Paredes got a hand on the PK with a dive to his right, deflecting it upward, but the ball hit the top shelf to give the Lumberjacks a 1-0 lead.
 
The Wildcats had five shots saved between that point and Fluitt's tying goal, including a shot by Jacob Chong that was cleared off the line by a defender.
 
They finally broke through on Fluitt's free kick set up by Chong and Mikey Hirsch. Played into danger by Hirsch's long pass down the left flank, Chong drew a foul 12 yards out from the goal line and midway between the edge of the 18 and touch line.
 
Fluitt cracked a low liner toward Justin Bethke at the near post but Bethke just missed bodying the ball. Caught trying to cover the near post, the keeper was unable to react back across his body in time as the ball skipped off the turf and into the far side netting with 16:12 remaining in regulation.
 
The Wildcats would need nearly every last second to complete the comeback.
 
Hogbin took advantage of a heavy touch to poke the ball away and put an end to a Lumberjacks attack with less than a minute remaining. Hirsch quickly put Humboldt State's defense under pressure going the other way. The ball eventually found its way to Fluitt just inside the right edge of the 18-yard box. Fluitt's first attempted cross bounced back out to him. He stepped on the ball and surveyed the scene before creating a small window around two defenders with a move toward the goal line. His low pass eluded two defenders and bounced toward McEnroe, who had set up shop on top of the six-yard box facing Fluitt. The senior midfielder got a slight touch on the ball with his right boot and it ricocheted slightly, rolling into the far left corner of the net. McEnroe fell to his knees as Fluitt was mobbed by his teammates.
 
The Wildcats finished with a 15-12 edge in shots and 12-1 advantage in corner kicks. Paredes made five saves in improving to 6-1-0 in goal.
 
Chico State will play its fourth straight match to open conference play Sunday at 11:30 a.m. Links to streaming video and live stats for the match are available at www.chicowildcats.com. They'll be in the friendly confines of University Soccer Stadium for five of their final eight conference matches after that.