ARCATA—Not only did the Chico State men's soccer team's fate come down to the last match of the season. It also came down to the final two minutes. The Wildcats needed at least a tie in their regular season finale at Cal Poly Humboldt to lock up a California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Tournament berth, and after leading 1-0, surrendered two second half goals and trailed late into the match. But Preston Moll provided the magic, scoring with 1:43 remaining and sending the Wildcats into the postseason with a 2-2 draw.
 
Chico State, the No. 5 seed, will play at No. 4 seed Cal State Monterey Bay Sunday at 2 p.m. The winner will advance to the CCAA Tournament semifinals on Friday, Nov. 4, at Premier Field in San Bernardino.
 
The Wildcats wrap up the regular season with a record of 6-4-8 overall and 3-2-6 in CCAA play. Cal Poly Humboldt finished its campaign 3-7-8 overall and 2-5-4 in the CCAA. The teams played to two draws this season. The first matchup is the subject of episode 4 of the LG docu-series "The Rivalries," which will premiere on Wednesday night at 5 p.m., Pacific, on LG Smart TVs. The series is presented by LG USA in partnership with the NCAA. "The Rivalries" is available exclusively on the NCAA Championships Channel (Channel 100) via LG Channels, a free streaming service available exclusively on LG Smart TVs. Following Wednesday's 5 p.m. premiere, the episode will be re-aired at 8 p.m. and again at 11 p.m.
 
Thursday's high-scoring affair played much differently than that scoreless draw. The Wildcats jumped out front on Cayden Hotaling's 29^th-minute strike, set up by the kind of effort expected from a team playing for its postseason life. Hotaling won a 50-50 ball on a goal kick near midfield, flicking it on toward the left sideline. It appeared destined to roll out of bounds, but Miles Rice sprinted after it, forcing a Lumberjacks defender to play it under pressure. That resulted in a turnover collected by Liam Duerksen, who delivered a quick pass to Bryan Manriquez on a run down the left flank. Manriquez played a cross, and the retreating defender could only muster a weak clearance attempt that landed at the feet of Hotaling, who knocked it in for his second goal of the season.
 
The Wildcats were not satisfied with sitting on the lead and actually finished with a 17-13 advantage in shots and five second-half corner kicks. But Humboldt's Ramiro Rosas scored two great goals from nearly the same spot to push the Jacks into the lead. His first came in the run of play following a throw-in. He curled around a defender and unleashed a strike from 25 yards that curled inside the far post. His second came on a free kick from the same spot, approximately five yards out from the top-right corner of the 18-yard box. He hit this one about the same, but a bit higher, for a 2-1 edge. It marked just the second time this season the Wildcats had allowed two goals in a match.
 
They had the answer. Noah Ross's throw-in from the right side, about five yards up from the corner flag, set things in motion. Gabriel Delich flicked it on to the top of the six-yard box, but it was deflected right back to him. Delich chested it down and volleyed it back across the mouth of the goal. His pass floated over eight Lumberjacks and Moll, awaiting and its arrival at the far post, pounded it home with a left-footed volley.
 
With the one point earned with their tie, the Wildcats wrapped up CCAA play with 15 points. Cal State San Marcos and Sonoma State finished with 14 points apiece, so the draw kept the Wildcats from dropping into a three-way tie for fifth, which would have resulted in a tiebreaker that left one of those teams out.
 
Saturday's match will be broadcast on the CCAA Network and live stats are also available. Links can be found at www.chicowildcats.com in the calendar section on the homepage and on the men's soccer schedule page. Access to the live video stream requires a subscription fee that grants users access to every CCAA event on the network, home and away.
 
2022 CCAA Men's Soccer Tournament
Sunday, Oct. 30 - First Round (at campus sites)
Match 1: #6 Sonoma State at #3 Cal Poly Pomona, Noon
Match 2: #5 Chico State at #4 Cal State Monterey Bay, 2 p.m.

Semifinals and Final
at Premier Field, Cal State San Bernardino, San Bernardino, Calif.
Friday, Nov. 4 - Semifinals
Match 3: #2 seed vs. Match 1 Winner, 11:30 a.m.
Match 4: #1 seed vs. Match 2 Winner, 2 p.m.

Sunday, Nov. 6 - Championship
Match 5: Match 3 Winner vs. Match 4 Winner, 1 p.m.