Men's Soccer | 11/11/2019 5:59:00 PM

The Chico State men's soccer team's fourth straight postseason run kicks off Tuesday at 1 p.m. at Cal State San Bernardino. Only a win will ensure that it doesn't end there.
 
Winners of five straight to finish the regular season with a record of 12-4-0 and 8-4-0 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association, Chico State is the No. 5 seed in the CCAA Tournament, but the Wildcats might also be the hottest team in the tournament. Cal State San Bernardino (11-2-3 overall and 8-2-2 in the CCAA) is the No. 4 seed.
 
Links to streaming video and live stats for the match are available on the top-right corner of this release, on the men's soccer schedule page and in the calendar section of the homepage.
 
Tuesday's winner will advance to take on top-seeded Cal State LA Friday at 1:30 p.m. in a CCAA Tournament semifinal match in La Jolla. The winner of that match will move on to play for the title and an automatic berth in the NCAA Championship Tournament on Sunday, November 17, in La Jolla.
 
The Wildcats entered last weekend ranked No. 10 in the NCAA's Super Region 4 and went on to win two matches. However, five automatic bids will be won in the West, and five more at-large bids will be handed out. That would appear to leave the Wildcats  squarely on the NCAA Championship Tournament bubble heading into the conference tournament.
 
A tournament championship would be the "easiest" way to eliminate any doubt. But whichever team grabs that automatic qualification will have finished an exceedingly difficult task. Five CCAA squads are ranked among the Super Region's top 10: No. 2 Cal State LA, No. 4 Cal State San Bernardino, No. 8 Cal Poly Pomona, No. 9 UC San Diego, and No. 10 Chico State.
 
The next batch of Super Region rankings, which will not take Tuesday's results into account, will be released Wednesday afternoon. The NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Championship Tournament Selection Show will air Monday, November 18, at 3:30 p.m., Pacific.
 
UC San Diego will host San Francisco State in Tuesday's other first-round CCAA Tournament matchup. The winner of that match will take on Cal Poly Pomona in Friday's other semifinal.
 
The Wildcats have played well on the road this season and at San Bernardino over the years. They are 6-2-0 on the road in 2019. At Cal State San Bernardino, the Wildcats are 8-2-1 all time, including 6-0-1 since their last loss there in 2002. In their last meeting in San Bernardino, Garrett Hogbin converted a second-half PK and Alex Fluitt assisted on Jeremiah Egujie's match winner in the 89^th minute.
 
However, the Coyotes won their meeting in Chico earlier this year 3-0 on the strength of three second-half goals despite the Wildcats' 10-8 edge in shots on goal and 5-1 advantage in corner kicks.
 
That is not the only loss the Wildcats will be looking to avenge. Cal State San Bernardino knocked Chico State out of the 2016 CCAA Tournament 1-0 with an 84^th-minute match winner in Chico.
 
The Wildcats seem to be playing much better soccer than they were in this season's first meeting, however. Since trailing Cal State San Marcos 1-0 at intermission on October 20, the Wildcats have outscored their opponents 16-0 and won five straight. During that stretch, they have allowed 14 shots on goal.
 
Offensively, freshman Jacob Chong and senior Mikey Hirsch are on quite the runs. Chong has accounted for seven goals and three assists and Hirsch four goals and three assists during that five-match stretch.
 
The Wildcats are 4-9-2 all time in CCAA Tournament matches, including 3-6-2 in the opening round. They are 1-1-0 against Cal State San Bernardino, with both matches taking place in the opening round.
 
Chico State claimed its only CCAA Tournament title in 2003 on its way to the NCAA Division II Championship Tournament title match.