CHICO, Calif. — The Chico State soccer team defeated Saint Martin's 3-0 on Saturday for the first win of the season.
The Wildcats scored once in the first half and twice after halftime while limiting the Saints to one shot on goal.
Joshua Morris scored the game-winning goal and put all three of his shots on goal. Manoa João Monteiro recorded two assists and added one shot. Cooper Gyll finished with a goal on two shots, and Lantz Gutierrez scored on his lone shot. Nickolas Molina played all 90 minutes in goal, made one save, and recorded the shutout.
The Wildcats generated the first wave of chances, with Adrian Solis forcing a save at 2:39 before Jacob Tyberg, with a header off a perfectly placed corner kick in the sixth minute that missed left, and Simon Vaca-Lorenzi followed with attempts as the match stayed scoreless through the opening stretch.
The Saints created pressure later in the half, including a Jonathan Wright shot at 26:01, a Lukas Wexler attempt at 31:30, and two corners in the 37th minute, but Chico kept the match at 0-0. Morris beat a 1-v-1 with a defender, dribbled to the top of the box in the 31st minute, but his shot was saved by the keeper.
The 'Cats pushed forward again late with three corner kicks from 40:29 to 43:43, and Morris scored at 44:14 off an assist from João Monteiro off the corner after the Saints' defense tried to clear the corner sequence. The goal sent the Wildcats into halftime with a 1-0 lead.
The second half opened with João Monteiro sending a Chico shot high at 46:16, and a foul occurred in the Saint Martin's goal box in the 48th minute that initially awarded Chico a penalty kick, but after video review, the referee reversed the call.
The Saints earned a corner at 51:11, and a physical stretch included yellow cards to Darius Dukes at 54:26 and Corbin Herrera at 58:45. Gyll added to the lead at 59:31 off assists from João Monteiro and Vaca-Lorenzi, moving the score to 2-0. João Monteiro and Vaca-Lorenzi worked together in the box for one-touch passes, finding Gyll on the left side for the goal.
Gutierrez scored at 64:03, making it 3-0 off a corner kick from the right side. The Saints responded with Xander Koenig missing right at 64:23, Soren Hanson missing high/right at 65:28, Koenig hitting the top woodwork at 66:19, and Molina saving Hanson's shot at 71:54 after back-to-back corners.
The final minutes included a Wildcats corner at 79:40, a Saints corner at 86:39, and Herrera's shot wide left at 88:26, and Chico closed out the 3-0 win.
The last time Chico achieved a 3-0 win was on October 13, 2024, at Cal State Monterey Bay.
The Wildcats will make a brief visit to San Rafael to play a road match with Dominican Thursday at 3 p.m.
