TURLOCK — First it was a win under a new head coach.
 
Then it was a winning streak.
 
And now it's a California Collegiate Athletic Association schedule-opening victory and its longest winning streak in six years.
 
The Stanislaus State men's soccer team won its fifth straight game Saturday, taking down an unbeaten and regionally ranked Cal State Monterey Bay team with a 3-1 CCAA triumph at Warrior Stadium.
 
The Warriors (5-2-1) haven't won five games in a row since opening the 2015 season with seven straight Ws. And they haven't won a CCAA season opener since the same year. Now they're 5-2-1 and 1-0 in conference play and seemingly getting better every week, now having outscored opponents 14-3 during their current run.
 
"I feel like today we applied ourselves really well in the first half and played exactly the way we wanted to play and found the advantages that were there for us to exploit," said Stanislaus State head coach Morgan Cathey.
 
It was a much different game Friday than in the teams' season-opening non-conference tie in Seaside on Sept. 2. The Warriors were already up 2-0 within the first 18 minutes. Adrian Yepez's second goal of the year put the Warriors ahead 1-0 in the seventh minute. Francisco Gonzalez fed Yepez a ball near the top of the box. Yepez's shot wasn't a strong one, but it managed to get through the defense and bounce into the net.
 
Miguel Galdamez's first goal of the season was very similar to Yepez's, only closer to the net. It was Yepez this time who sent in the pass to Galdamez's feet. Galdamez punched it in on the right side of the goal from seven feet out just over 10 minutes after Yepez's goal to make it 2-0.
 
The Otters, who entered the game as the No. 10-ranked team in the West Region, cut their deficit in half with a goal in the 59th minute. Pedro Hernandez tapped in a low cross from Colin O'Mahony, who had dribbled down towards the end line off a pass from George Aquino.
 
"(Cal State Monterey Bay) is a team that creates a lot of very good chances throughout a game," said Cathey. "I think in the second half we let them take advantage of the transitional game and could've for sure gave us an even more difficult time."
 
The score and game stayed a tight one for the rest of the second half until the 87th minute when Josh Santillan gave the Warriors the insurance they needed with his first goal of the season. Julian Madrigal dribbled through a crowd of CSUMB defenders to reach the left edge of the box and pass to Santillan, who was at the top. He fired a shot from 19 yards out and beat the 'keeper to the right, making it 3-1 with only 3:37 left on the clock.
 
"I was really happy to see the third goal go in, which was a great moment for our team to be calm, to be methodical and exploit the 3-against-2 situation, and I thought Josh did great to get his first goal," said Cathey. "I thought him, along with so many guys. played well tonight. I'm excited to see how we can keep growing from this and play a very, very good team on Sunday."
 
The Warriors host Cal State Dominguez Hills in a CCAA match at 11:30 a.m. Sunday. Fans can purchase tickets and find all live coverage links on WarriorAthletics.com.