After missing the entire 2020 season and welcoming 25 newcomers into the fold during that time, it was almost impossible to guess what was in store for the program this season. So far, so very, very good! After scoring early and holding on to win Saturday's season opener at Azusa Pacific 1-0, the Wildcats screamed from behind to beat Biola 3-1 Monday in La Mirada, finishing their season-opening road trip with a record of 2-0.
 
Madison Parsons, Susanna Garcia and Summer Baron each bagged a goal and Garcia, Jordan Doukakis, Natalie Mendoza, and Kylie Rolling all had assists. Chico State will open its home campaign at University Soccer Stadium Saturday at 7 p.m. against 5^th-ranked Seattle Pacific—favorite to win the Great Northwest Athletic Conference title—riding a wave of great confidence.
 
The Wildcats out-shot Biola 15-8 Monday and enjoyed an 11-4 advantage in shots on goal. They have allowed only seven shots on goal in their first two matches. The lone shot to find the back of the net came in the 24^th minute Monday. The Eagles took advantage of an opportunity in transition to move the ball all the way down to the end line for a cross near the left edge of the 18-yard box. Two Chico State defenders allowed Abby Chavez to sneak between them and into the mouth of the goal to direct the pass into the back of the net with a header.
 
That was the lone goal of the day for the Eagles, however, who opened the season four days prior with a 1-0 win against Stanislaus State. Chico State's defense immediately huddled to discuss the mistake and made sure it did not happen again. That gave the Wildcats time to claw back into the match. They didn't need much. Parsons equalized with her first collegiate goal in the 35^th minute. Parsons missed a wide open header in the Wildcats' season opener. She can be forgiven for showing some rust after missing the 2018 season while redshirting, the 2019 season due to injury, and then lost the 2020 campaign as well.
 
Undoubtedly grateful that another chance came soon, this time Parsons cashed in, outmuscling a defender to get a boot on the ball from near the PK spot and deflecting Rolling's delivery past the keeper in the 34^th minute. The play started when Antonia Diaz hustled to run down a long pass and pressured a Biola defender into a hurried pass. It was intercepted by Rolling near the top left-hand corner of the 18-yard box. Rolling saw Parsons making a run from the top of the box and Garcia moving in from the opposite corner. She rolled a pass toward the penalty spot and Parsons found a way through a defender to get a toe on it. The assist was the first in a Chico State uniform for Rolling, true freshman from Will C. Wood High School in Vacaville.
 
Chico State took the lead for good early in the second half, converting on a beautiful set piece. Garcia was the lone Wildcat near the 6-yard box for the Wildcats, in amongst three defenders and the keeper, as Doukakis set up the corner kick. Doukakis delivered the perfect ball and the diminutive Garcia did the rest, getting a step on her defender, shielding her off, and then rising at just the right time to flick the service into the back of the net with a header.
 
Another strong defensive hustle play set up the Wildcats' final goal. Brynn Howard tracked back to steal a pass just beyond the midfield stripe to snuff Biola's opportunity in transition and also setting up the Wildcats to counter. Howard touched a pass ahead to Mendoza at midfield, and she took four aggressive touches directly toward the Biola goal before moving it ahead to Garcia near the left corner of the 18-yard box. Garcia attacked, dribbling at an angle toward the spot where the six-yard box meets the end line. Parsons was making a dangerous run toward the near post and taking two defenders and the goalkeeper with her, and when Garcia played the ball toward her, she smartly let it roll on by into the space behind her that was only occupied by Baron who hammered it into the back of the net with a one-timed right foot.
 
The goal was the first at the collegiate level for the true freshman from Vacaville, as was the assist from Mendoza, who joined the Wildcats in 2020 after graduating from Franklin High School in Elk Grove.
 
With only two matches under their belts, they have a long way to go to catch Garcia and Doukakis. Garcia's goal Monday was the 10^th of her Chico State career and her second of the season. Doukakis is the team's active career leader in assists with 13 and needs only two more to break into the program's all-time top 10 assist leaders.