Home-field advantage didn’t seem to matter this Friday as both Chico State men’s and women’s soccer pulled out close victories on the road. Thanks to great defense from both teams, Chico State won big Friday with back to back women’s and men’s road wins against California State University Monterey Bay.
“We’re very structured in the back, we don’t try to do anything flashy, we just tried to play our game and let everything else fall into place,” forward Erin Woods said about their defense.
Chico women’s soccer kicked off the day with a 1-0 victory. Korie Bozart scored her first goal of the season, which ended up being the difference maker in this one. This game gave Chico it’s third win and they remain undefeated after seven games which gives them a 3-0-4 record.
“(This win) feels really good. It gives us some reassurance that we are playing the way we want to and getting the results that we need,” Woods said.
Going forward, Chico women’s soccer will play Cal State East Bay, who started 5-0, but have gone 0-2-1 in conference play since. It is important that Chico State plays the same kind of defense that they played in the first game, in order to at least win half of the road trip.
Chico men’s soccer was up next against Monterey Bay, and this game did not disappoint. After a goal scored in the 71st minute by Monterey Bay, it seemed very unlikely that there was any way Chico State would come back. However, after about 19 scoreless minutes after the first goal, Garrett Hogbin scored a buzzer-beater from twenty yards out to tie the game.
Goalkeeper Damion Lewis said that they carried that energy from the last second goal into overtime, leading to the 2-1 victory off the foot of Samuel Licona against Monterey Bay. Licona’s goal in overtime would be the last goal of the game as the Wildcats won, 2-1.
“In this game we were all just fired up from that goal we scored as the clock was winding down, and we used that same energy in overtime and got the win,” Lewis said. They had to “Recognize that the game’s not over and that anything can happen at any given moment.”
Chico men’s soccer was able to win due to four saves from Lewis, who has been great, allowing only 0.68 goal per game, and giving up no more than two goals in a single game all season.
The Chico State men’s soccer team will face Cal State East Bay in a televised game this Sunday at 11:30 a.m. This will be the second game of the Wildcat’s four game road trip.
Connor McPherson can be reached at [email protected] or @theGOATMcphers1 on Twitter.
