LOS ANGELES—You know those movie scenes where the hero is surrounded and the villains are supremely confident that there's no escape? What happens next, of course, is that the hero starts kicking butt. Well, Chico State women's soccer's Susanna Garcia is a butt kicker. Her goal in the Wildcats' 2-0 win Friday night at Cal State L.A. was a prime example.
As Kylie Martinez set up for a Chico State corner kick, six defenders stood inside the six-yard box, surrounding the 5-foot-4 Garcia. The lone Chico State player near the mouth of the goal, Garcia posted up near the goal line with one defender standing in front of her, the goalkeeper right behind her, one defender on the near post, one defender on the far post, and two more camped out just inside the top of the box.
Seconds later, Garcia had two hands raised in the air as she sprinted toward the Chico State bench to celebrate her second consecutive match-winning strike. The defenders had their head in their hands wondering what had hit them.
Martinez's ball was a beauty placed four yards out from the mouth of the goal. Garcia shuffled twice to her left into the narrow gap between the defender moving right and the other moving left, rose up, and headed the ball down off the turf, over the defender guarding the far post, and into the top shelf. They didn't realize they were surrounding a soccer assassin.
She's not the Wildcats' only one. Camille Lidster dealt the knockout blow early in the second half. Following some nice work that led to two good chances in front of the net, Lidster corralled a failed clearance at the top of the 18-yard box and left her defender in her tracks with a cheeky fake to her right before placing the ball back on her left foot and delivering a dart inside the left post for a 2-0 lead.
Lidster assisted on Garcia's game-winning goal Monday against Sonoma State. Garcia leads the Wildcats with five goals and also has three assists. Lidster's five assists lead the team and she now has two goals.
But, the defense has been the biggest story of the team's six-match unbeaten streak. In fact, the Wildcats have not allowed a goal during that stretch. Goalkeeper Emma Hofmann matched her season-high with seven saves Friday. Martinez and her fellow backline mates Nicole Fairbanks and Jordan Doukakis played all 90 minutes along with Lidster and fellow midfielder Sarah Emigh.
The Wildcats rose two spots into a tie for second place in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) standings with Friday's win. They trail first-place Cal State East Bay and are tied with Sonoma State with 18 points with two matches to play. San Francisco State sits fourth with 17 points, Stanislaus State is fifth with 15, Cal Poly Pomona is sixth with 14, and Cal State Monterey Bay and Cal State L.A. (now 4-9-2 overall and 4-4-1 in conference play) are tied for seventh with 13 points.
The top two teams in the final standing earn first-round byes. The teams that finish third and fourth will host a first-round CCAA Tournament match on Sunday, Nov. 7. The teams that finish fifth and sixth will be on the road.
The Wildcats, 8-1-3 over their last 12 matches, face another stiff challenge Sunday against Cal Poly Pomona at 2 p.m. The Broncos had their six-match unbeaten streak snapped by Humboldt State 1-0 Friday.
Chico State will wrap up the regular season at home against Humboldt State next Thursday at 2 p.m.
All games are available on the CCAA Network. Links to the streaming broadcast are on the men's soccer schedule page and calendar section of the homepage at
www.chicowildcats.com.
Health and safety policies vary from campus to campus. If you plan to attend Sunday's match at Cal Poly Pomona please review the Broncos' COVID-19 spectator policies.
Cal Poly Pomona COVID-19 Spectator Policies for 2021–22
Spectators are allowed to attend home soccer, volleyball, basketball and baseball games, but prior to entering the facilities, spectators will need to complete a
Guest Health Screener (
HERE) prior to arriving on campus on the same day of each visit, and display the results of the Guest Screener to the individuals selling tickets at the box office. Once inside the facility, all individuals, regardless of vaccination status,
must wear a mask at all times.
Please do not attend any events if you are experiencing any COVID-19 symptoms or are under quarantine or isolation orders. Please also be aware that the above policies and restrictions are subject to change and can be modified at any time without notice in order to comply with the most current state, local and campus health guidelines.
