The No.13 ranked Chico State Wildcats (6-1-1, 0-0-1 CCAA) played to a bittersweet 1-1 draw on Friday against the No. 2 ranked Cal State LA Eagles (5-0-2, 0-0-1 CCAA).
The Wildcats took on the Eagles Friday afternoon for their California Collegiate Athletic Association opener, a highly anticipated matchup between two top nationally ranked programs.
This excitement was high thanks to the large number of students and fans who came to show support for their Wildcats, who haven’t recorded a win against the Eagles in 15 years.
Chico State’s defensive prowess was on full display throughout the game, limiting chances for the Eagles. The fullbacks, junior Justin Ricketts, senior Preston Moll and freshman Carlos Zuniga all had quality performances on each side of the pitch, doing a great job preventing crosses into the box and making timely tackles when necessary.
Cal State LA were the ones to strike first, when in the 40th minute, senior midfielder Erick Alamo scored off a rebound from senior goalkeeper Emanuel Padilla’s save.
Despite not being able to put anything on the board, the Wildcats were the aggressors in the first half, having twice as many big chances created and outshooting the Eagles 7-3, and 3-1 in shots on goal.
“We’re at home and we had a really good crowd, so you know, we didn’t want to sit back and wait for them to make the first move,” Padilla said. “We wanted to get after it quick.”
The drought didn’t last long, as sophomore midfielder Sylas Sells was able to tie things up in the 50th minute, following a mistake by the Eagles keeper, catching him out of position. After being played through by sophomore forward Thomas Douglas, Sells showed his composure with a smooth left footed finish, finding the left side of the net, evening things up at one a piece.
“The keeper messed up on his freekick, and it went straight to me and I laid it onto Thomas, who pushed me through on goal, and I just had to hit it first time, far post,” Sells said.
Padilla and the Wildcat defense prevented any opportunities for the Eagles to take the lead for the remainder of the game, securing the 1-1 draw.
“They [Chico State’s defense] put in quite a shift,” Padilla said. “It’s every game, they make my job pretty easy by outsourcing our opponents. Being able to have such a great defense, especially against a nationally top ranked team, is quite a blessing.”
Although they earned one point towards the CCAA standings, the players felt like they had the opportunity to come out with the win Friday.
“It’s a little bittersweet, deep down I feel like we know we should be leaving out with three points,” Padilla said.
Nonetheless, the Wildcats still came out with a positive result against the second best team in the nation, which should slightly improve their ranking heading into next week.
Chico State’s next match will be on Sunday against the Cal State Dominguez Hill Toros, at 11:30 a.m. at the University Soccer Stadium. This will conclude the Wildcats four-game homestand, having recorded two wins and one draw so far.
Home games are free to attend for students who present their student IDs or Canvas home page.
For information about all Chico State athletics or to keep up with the game live, visit the Wildcat home page, or watch through FloSports.
Lukas Mann can be reached at [email protected].
