The Chico State Wildcats (5-4-6, 2-3-3 CCAA) pulled out a 2-0 victory over the Cal State San Bernadino Coyotes (4-5-5, 3-3-2 CCAA) Sunday afternoon.
Sunday’s California Collegiate Athletic Association conference matchup marked the last home game of the season for the Wildcats and their nine seniors. This match also held significance for Chico State’s playoff aspirations, and with the win, their playoff hopes are still alive.
Before Sunday’s round of conference games, the Coyotes entered the match in second place in the CCAA standings with 11 points. Chico State was in seventh place with only six points.
Wildcats senior forward Avery Pieri led the attack, scoring twice, with one of her goals being assisted by her sister Hannah Pieri.
Chico State’s defense had another dominant performance, not allowing any goals for the Coyotes and limiting them to only five shots on goal and four corner kicks to the Wildcats’ seven.
“Our back line is gritty, and we grind,” sophomore defender Madeline Mariani said. “We want to be in every tackle, be as physical as we can and get balls out. That’s our job.”
Sophomore goalkeeper Claire Schnabel also had a masterful performance in front of the net for the Wildcats, with five saves and zero goals allowed throughout the full 90 minutes.
After Sunday’s results, the Wildcats find themselves in sixth place in the conference, only three points outside the top four.
“As a team, we’ve been talking about it all week, how we need to show up because we only have four games left to prove ourselves,” Pieri said.
Their next chance for points comes on Friday down in Hayward, where they will take on the Cal State East Bay Pioneers at Pioneer Stadium.
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].