The Wildcats were held again to a single goal Friday night in a hard-fought 1-1 draw against Cal State San Bernardino, making it eight straight games where they have yet to break that mark and being outscored 6-10 over that span.
Straight from the kickoff, they immediately went on the attack. During the first five minutes of the game, forward player Xavier Elder attempted three shots with Coyote defenders on him but was unsuccessful. The goalie Donovan Palomares found one of the three shots, a much closer and challenging attempt within the penalty box than the other two, but caught the ball that was kicked low.
About 21 minutes into the game, things got a little more physical. Coyote midfielder Diego Lopez was shown a yellow card, and 30 seconds after the play resumed, Wildcat midfielder Michael Gray also received a yellow card.
After an offside call against the Coyotes, the Wildcats brought the ball back to offense and attempted a shot that was far off from the goal. Coyote’s goalie Palomares sprinted out of the goal area, and took the ball along the sideline, with Elder right behind him trying to get the ball back. Palomares finally passed the ball to a teammate as he approached the halfway line.
At 32 minutes, after a yellow card on midfielder Adrian Solis, Coyote forward Anthony Morales kicked the ball from the left side a few inches off the top post, the closest goal attempt for the Coyotes at that point of the game.
Within the last minute of the first half, Wildcat midfielder Carter Haynes, who was assisted by another midfielder, Dominick Rollins Trovato, scored his first goal of the season with a header after receiving a corner kick.
“I got the goal, the first goal of my college career. Kind of expecting it, I just saw the ball going up in the air, saw where it was gonna land, and it’s like playing three flags up, you go up and get it,” Haynes said.
Shortly after the second half kickoff, Morales attempted two shots but was unable to beat the Coyote keeper.
During the second half of the game, Dane Peterson nearly doubled the Wildcat lead, but Coyote goalie Palomares blocked the ball at the very last second with one hand as he dove to his right.
Within the last 18 minutes of the second half, Sam Addo was injured and limped off with assistance from medical staff. He was replaced by Darius Dukes.
Three minutes after the incident, Peterson received a yellow card after aggressively knocking over one of the Coyotes as they both chased for the ball.
Within the last three minutes of the game, Morales finally scored from the right side with a low kick that went under Weston Joyner as he leaped for it, and the ball flew straight into the goal for Cal State San Bernardino, leading the game into a draw.
Within the last three minutes, the ball was taken back to Wildcat’s offense. Peterson attempted another shot on goal, and then Rollins Trovato took the last two shot attempts from the left side, but the game ended in a draw of 1-1.
“I was really impressed with how hard they played, a lot of young guys getting their first minutes. But overall, the group’s improving,” Head Coach Felipe Restrepo said.
With the draw, the Wildcats record moves to 3-4-4 overall and 1-1-3 in the conference. They aim to bounce back in Turlock against Stanislaus State on Friday at 4:30 p.m.
For information about all Chico State athletics or to keep up with the game live, visit the Wildcat home page, or watch through FloSports.
Malisse Busby can be reached at [email protected] or [email protected].
