Senior day for the Chico State women’s soccer team could not have gone any better for the home squad. All of the Wildcats seniors were honored before their game against the first place UC San Diego Tritons.
After the ceremony the game would begin with emotions running high as both teams were looking to end their seasons on strong notes.
The first half of the game was a dominating performance in the Tritons favor as they finished the half with six shots to Chico’s three. San Diego also led in corners as well, but the real numbers that mattered were the goals that were scored. That number was zero for the Wildcats and it was the same for the Tritons.
After a scoreless first half, the Wildcats would quickly find themselves with a 1-0 lead thanks to freshman forward Susanna Garcia. Garcia found herself all alone in front of the net thanks to a great pass by senior forward Devon Morones. The goal was scored 6 minutes into the second half and would be Garcia’s sixth goal of the season.
This lead forced Chico State to play a more defensive style against the very physical San Diego team. The leader of the Wildcat defense is senior Jamie Ikeda. Ikeda and her defensive unit were tasked with shutting down the successful Triton offense.
“I give a lot of credit to San Diego, they’re a really good team,” Ikeda said. “I think we held our own today, this team believes and we have a lot of heart and that’s what kept us in the game.”
Staying in the game is exactly what Chico State did as they would not allow San Diego to score for the rest of the game ultimately giving the Wildcats the 1-0 victory on senior day.
Senior forward Erin Woods was among a group of seniors that was excited to win their last home game of their college careers.
“I feel amazing, we’ve never beaten San Diego in all my years here, so this was the biggest treat of them all,” Woods said.
Senior day brought out a range of emotions for the Wildcats, especially with the victory.
“There were so many different emotions coming into this game,” Ikeda said. “It’s happy, it’s sad, but I think overall we were fightful. We believe and it showed out there on the field. It takes a team to do this, I’m just so proud of us.”
A successful senior day for Chico State will hopefully bring momentum for when the playoffs start.
Chico State gained a first round bye in the California Collegiate Athletic Association tournament finishing second in the conference. Thanks to this first round bye Chico State will play the winner of Cal State Los Angeles and Sonoma State on Friday, Nov. 2 in La Jolla.
Andrew Baumgartner can be reached at [email protected] or @abaum94 on Twitter.
