Box Score

ARCATA — The regular season came down to the wire as the Cal State Stanislaus men's soccer team beat Humboldt State, 1-0, on Sunday to claim the fourth and final berth of the conference tournament.

Prior to the start of Sunday's match, Cal State Stanislaus knew it had to at least get a tie to get a chance to play next week. Better yet, the Warriors, behind a Keith Ramirez header goal, got the win and picked up three points to move ahead of Sonoma State to finish second in the CCAA North.

The Warriors, now 11-5-2 overall and 9-5-2 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association, have qualified for the CCAA Men's Soccer Championships to be held next weekend at Warrior Stadium. The Warriors are 8-1 during the regular season when playing on home field. Further, the Warriors are 24-4-2 at home since the facility opened in 2009.

"I think it's going to be a definite advantage to be back at home and have our crowd support," head coach Dana Taylor said. "Our crowd have been incredible, they give us motivation and we are certainly looking forward to playing (at home again)."

Cal State Stanislaus is in the CCAA postseason dance for the second time in program history. The last was in 2006 in La Jolla, although the chase to qualify was similar — the Warriors had to win on finale Sunday to get in. Even the final opponent was the same as the Warriors beat Humboldt State, 2-1 in double overtime back in 2006 to advance.

The 2011 version of the conference tournament will feature the Warriors, Chico State, (CCAA North winner) and CCAA South teams Cal State L.A. and Cal State Dominguez Hills. In the semifinal round on Friday, the Warriors will face Cal State L.A. at 7 p.m.

"We are extremely excited for the guys to experience this. They have worked so hard for so long and hope to continue to make a little bit more history for this program," Taylor said.

A few things had to happen this weekend for the Warriors and it all worked out for Stanislaus. But the Warriors controlled their own fate with a tie on Friday at Sonoma State and today's win at Humboldt State.

Against the Lumberjacks at HSU's College Creek Field, the Warriors dominated early but came up empty. Humboldt State did rallied back in the opening half to make it a closely contested match. Lumberjack goalkeeper Kyle Verle kept his team in the match with six first-half saves.

"I thought the guys came out with a lot of energy and we were taking shot after shot in the first 15 minutes of the game. Then we had to weather the storm as they turned the tide on us for about seven minutes," Taylor added. "At the half we reminded them on what we had to do and keep everything locked down for 45 more minutes with pure effort and the rest will take care of itself."

The Warriors finally broke through in the 51st minute when Luis Guzman sending a cross into the box with Ramirez diving to beautifully head in the score at 50:03. Ramirez, who has seen limited action lately with injuries, made the trip North after sitting out on Friday. He made an impact today after entering the match in t he 38th minute and stayed on the field to start the second half.

"We got a set piece, which is something we've done well and the injured Keith Ramirez scored a brilliant header to put the game away. Then it was managing the game the rest of the way," said Taylor.

In the end, Stanislaus edged HSU 22-17 on the shot-count, but the Warriors had 11 shots on goal. The physical match came down to the wire with HSU goalkeeper Verle getting a red card and a fight nearly broke out.

Stanislaus net-minder Bill Hambelton picked up five saves and the backline defense played a solid match for the shutout. The shutout is the team's eighth this season, tying the team record set last season.