TURLOCK—The Chico State men's soccer team surpassed the midway point of its conference season Sunday, and with its 2-0 win at Stanislaus State, indicated once again that it plans on being in the postseason picture all the way to the end. Adrian Fontanelli scored on a penalty kick and assisted (along with Preston Moll) on Noah Ross's second-half goal as the Wildcats logged their fourth consecutive road win and third via shutout.
 
The Wildcats, tied for sixth in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) heading into this week's action, rose all the way up into third thanks to a pair of 2-0 victories. They have 11 points and a record of 3-1-2. The Wildcats are 6-3-4 overall, having lost just once in their last nine matches.
 
Chico State goalkeeper Luis Albarran turned away five shots on the way to his second consecutive clean sheet and fifth in the past nine matches. His last line of defense—starting defenders Trevor Fritz, Avery Huggins, Moll, Ross, and substitutes Ben Souza and Dawson White—limited the host Warriors to 12 shots, only one of which came in the second stanza.
 
Offensively, the Wildcats' ability to get the ball out wide and play dangerous crosses into the box paid dividends. Ahead of Fontanelli's successful 17^th-minute PK, Bryan Manriquez played a ball toward the far post that Ben Souza struck off a defender and out of bounds for a throw in near the right corner. Souza's throw in was flicked on by Cayden Hotaling, and Miles Rice attempted to bicycle it from the PK spot. The attempt flew wide of the goal, but in the race to track the ball down, Manriquez was shoved from behind. The referee whistled the play dead and pointed at the PK spot. Fontanelli struck it low and to his left and inside the post for his second goal of the season. 
 
Having already survived a seven-shot onslaught in the opening 13 minutes, the goal appeared to help the Wildcats' defense find its shape. They allowed just five more for the rests of the match. 
 
With that defense settled in, when Ross scored on a header at the far post early in the second half, the Wildcats had the match well in hand. That play was also set in motion by a throw-in near the corner flag. It was Ross who threw the ball in. The ball was passed back out to him for a cross toward the vacant far post. It sailed over Manriquez, but he ran it down on the opposite corner. With his back to the goal and two defenders in pursuit, he had Moll looping toward the endline on his right and Fontanelli coming on an inside-out run to his left. 
 
Manriquez chose to pass to Fontanelli, who would be facing the goal, and then cleared out the space in the 18-yard box with a supporting run toward the sideline. When both defenders cheated toward Manriquez, Fontanelli smartly played the ball into the vacated space behind for Moll to run onto. After one touch into the 18, Moll chipped a perfect pass toward the far post and Ross beat his defender in a one-on-one matchup, rising high over his back and heading the ball off the turf and over the goal line.
 
The win marked Chico State's sixth straight against the Warriors, the last five of which have come via shutout. The Wildcats have also won four in a row in Turlock. 

They'll attempt to keep rolling on the road when they face Cal State San Marcos Friday at 3 and Cal State San Bernardino Sunday at 2. After that, the Wildcats are home against Cal State Dominguez Hills and Cal State Monterey Bay before wrapping up the regular season at Cal Poly Humboldt.  
 
All five remaining regular season matches and any CCAA Tournament matches will be broadcast on the CCAA Network and live stats are also available. The top six teams following the end of the regular season will play for the CCAA Tournament title. Links for all matches 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 that grants users access to every CCAA event, home and away, on the network.