CHICO, Calif. — The Chico State soccer team defeated Hawaii Pacific 2-0 on a perfect Saturday evening, giving the Wildcats their third straight win to move to 3-3.
Darius Dukes converted the Wildcats first penalty kick of the season in the 18th minute and assisted Simon Vaca-Lorenzi's insurance goal in the 89th minute. Nickolas Molina played all 90 minutes in goal and recorded a shutout.
Chico State generated the early chances, with Adrian Solis, Vaca-Lorenzi, Lantz Gutierrez, and Dukes all taking shots before Dukes' penalty kick put the Wildcats ahead 1-0. HPU pushed back after the goal, earning four corner kicks from 19:51 to 22:02 along with shots by Paul Norberg and Tyson Noerr, whose attempt hit the top woodwork. The half turned physical after the 30-minute mark, with yellow cards to Joshua Morris and Pedro Ashley and several fouls before the Sharks added a shot by Royal Kekuewa and the Wildcats closed the half with a Cooper Stephens attempt at 44:14, taking a 1-0 lead into halftime.
Chico State carried a 1-0 lead into the second half and, after HPU put an early shot over the top at 47:40, pushed forward through chances by Manoa João Monteiro, Gutierrez, Vaca-Lorenzi, and Solis. The Wildcats added a corner at 66:33 and shots from Jacob Tyberg and Cooper Gyll, but the score remained 1-0 as the half moved into a physical stretch that included fouls by both teams and yellow cards to Tyberg, Solis, and HPU's Alexander Arguijo. The Sharks generated three corners between 71:41 and 75:35 and later shots at 77:34 and 81:44, while Chico State kept the visitors off the board. Danny Pascanu hit the right woodwork for HPU at 87:55, and Vaca-Lorenzi scored off a Dukes assist at 88:30 to finish the Wildcats' 2-0 win.
The match was particularly physical, with 27 combined fouls. Additionally, the weather was windy during warmups but became perfect conditions by kickoff.
With the non-conference schedule complete, the Wildcats will turn their attention to CCAA play, starting with Cal State East Bay at University Soccer Stadium. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
