SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — The Chico State men's soccer team lost to No. 8 Cal State San Bernardino 3-0 on Sunday.
The Wildcats generated eight of their 11 shots in the second half and finished with four shots on goal, while their goalkeeper recorded seven saves.
Chico State's goalkeeper, Nickolas Molina, recorded seven saves while playing all 90 minutes in goal. Manoa João Monteiro finished with three shots and put two on goal. Simon Vaca-Lorenzi also tallied three shots, including one on goal.
The Wildcats (3-5-2, 0-2-2 CCAA) generated two early looks in a six-second span, with Cooper Stephens hitting the left woodwork at 4:06 before Caleb Gordon followed with another shot. The Coyotes (7-0-2, 3-0-0 CCAA) pushed back with corners at 5:51 and 7:53 and later forced Molina into saves on Nevin Rueegger at 13:40 and Josiah Martinez at 31:18 during a scoreless stretch. The half also tightened physically with six fouls between 27:10 and 36:02, while Vaca-Lorenzi added a Wildcats shot at 33:24. The Coyotes broke through at 42:44 when Martinez scored off assists from Diego Lopez and Titus Alviso, sending the Wildcats into halftime trailing 1-0.
Molina kept Chico State within 1-0 early in the second half, saving shots by Josiah Martinez, Diego Lopez and Rafa Fonseca while the Coyotes also earned two corner kicks in the opening nine minutes after halftime. The Wildcats pushed back with attempts from Gordon and João Monteiro before CSUSB generated more pressure, including another Lopez shot saved by Molina at 60:16 and a Jesse Gonzalez attempt wide at 60:51. The Coyotes broke through again at 65:53 when Titus Alviso scored off assists from Anthony Luna and Kai Djerbaka for a 2-0 lead, and Nevin Rueegger added a goal from Alviso at 74:27 to make it 3-0. Chico State created late chances as João Monteiro hit the left woodwork at 78:39, Jack Shane and João Monteiro put shots on frame, and Vaca-Lorenzi missed high, but the Coyotes held the score at 3-0 through the final whistle.
Up next, the Wildcats host Cal Poly Pomona on Wildcat FANatics Night on Friday at 4 p.m.
