Matthew Herrera's first day at work in the Chico State Sports Information Department was a busy one. His job was fairly simple: capture goals and highlights with his cell phone during Thursday night's season-opening women's soccer match and post them to Instagram. Afraid he might miss one highlight while he was uploading another, Herrera suggested waiting until halftime to begin the process. What a brilliant hire!
 
The Wildcats scored in bunches—three goals in a 20-minute span in the first half and three more in a five-minute span in the second half—on the way to a 6-0 win against Academy of Art at University Soccer Stadium. And Herrera captured them all. Check out the WildcatsGameDay Instagram feed to see them.
 
The 1-0 Wildcats will look to build on the good energy when they travel to face Fresno Pacific in their road opener Sunday at 1 p.m.
 
Goals by Susanna Garcia, Brynn Howard, and Jiana Martin made it 3-0 before 29 minutes had elapsed. But the goals were not the only story. The entire Chico State team helped completely control possession and keep the pressure on Academy of Art's defense throughout the evening. Goalkeepers Emma Hofmann and Hunter Casperson were used as distributors, but neither was tasked with facing a shot.
 
Center back Nicole Fairbanks was the lone Wildcat to play the full 90 minutes, while 22 Chico State student-athletes saw at least 20 minutes of action. The Wildcats out-shot Academy of Art 35-0.
 
Garcia, the returning California Collegiate Athletic Association Player of the Year, broke the seal in the 10^th minute, finishing a brilliant set-piece connection between Klayre Barres and Piper Matson. Barres' ball was played toward the far post when Matson touched it back to the top of the six-yard box for Garcia, who slammed it inside the right post. It was the 16^th of her career.
 
Howard followed with perhaps the highlight of the night. The first goal of her career was memorable, not just for that reason. It was a banger, taken on an attacking dribble through the teeth of the defense from 25 yards out into the left upper-V.
 
The true freshman Martin made it 3-0 in the 29^th minute, collecting a loose ball off a corner kick near the top of the 18-yard box and chipping it back across the face of the goal inside the far post.
 
The second half saw much of the same domination by the home side. However, this time the goals came in even quick succession. Natalie Mendoza, who led the Wildcats with five shots, found the back of the net on her last one of the night, finishing a gorgeous cross from Mikayla Robertson in the 68th minute. Two minutes later, it was Robertson's turn. The sophomore added her first collegiate goal alongside her first collegiate assist. After slamming a shot off the crossbar, she stayed engaged and left-footed a smartly headed down pass from Martin into the back of the net. Robertson completed the scoring just two minutes after that. She stole a pass, dribbled to the PK spot, and then beat the charging keeper low inside the right post.
 
The Wildcats, ranked No. 5 in the West Region and picked by the CCAA's coaches to finish third in the conference, will be back home at University Soccer Stadium for two matches on the weekend of Sept. 8. Their non-conference finale against rival Cal Poly Humboldt on Sept. 17 will be filmed as part of the Rivalries documentary series, a collaboration between LG and the NCAA Championships Channel. Learn more about LG's NCAA partnership, The Rivalries docu-series and the NCAA Channel exclusively on LG Smart TVs, by visiting LG.com/NCAA.