Box Score

CHICO — Chico State scored two second half goals as the Wildcats held off the visiting Cal State Stanislaus Warriors on senior day with a 2-1 win at University Soccer Stadium Wednesday night.

For the Warriors, they will have to wait until this weekend to earn a spot in the upcoming California Collegiate Athletic Association Championship tournament. With the loss, Cal State Stanislaus falls to 11-5-1 overall and 9-5-1 in the CCAA North. The Warriors stay in second place, one point behind San Francisco State.

The Warriors would have secured a spot in the conference tournament, to be played at Warrior Stadium Nov. 5-7, with a win on Wednesday. Instead, they will need a Cal State Dominguez Hills loss on Friday or a win over Chico State at home on Saturday.

Trying to play the spoiler role, Chico State improved to 8-8-1 overall and 7-7-1 in the CCAA. The Wildcats have now won seven of the teams last nine meetings (7-1-1). The rivalry has now also produced five one-goal matches in the last six contests.

"We battled hard tonight. I'm proud of the effort we gave. Offensively we just need finish our opportunities," Stanislaus head coach Gabriel Bolton said.

After CSUS starting goalkeeper Millie Brown left the game in the 18th minute due to an injury, the Warriors took a 1-0 lead. Marissa Dunaway collected a rebound from a Sierra Casas shot and knocked it in to give put Stanislaus on the board at 26:22. 

The Wildcats, however, scored two unanswered goals in the second half by two players coming off the bench. First it was Denni Jo Berger's diving header in the 59th minute. Then Jenni Barto sent in the game-winner at 77:03.

The Warriors had two very good chances to equal the score in the final minutes with Alisa Barlow (83:46) and Bernie Bettencourt (87:31) with scoring opportunities. Both shots, however, were picked up by Chico's second goalkeeper Sydney Oliver.

The Cal State Stanislaus and Chico State rematch is this Saturday at Warrior Stadium in the regular season finale. The Warriors will be celebrating senior night with six seniors appearing in their final regular season contest. Kickoff is at 4:30 p.m., followed by the men's game at 7 p.m.

"We are looking forward to playing on Saturday night at our field. It's going to be a special night for our seniors," Bolton said.