Chico State Athletics - Wildcats in CCAA Championship Tournament for fifth time in last six years

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Wildcats in CCAA Championship Tournament for fifth time in last six years

11/3/2009 3:41:19 PM

TURLOCK – The California Collegiate Athletic Association title won’t be the only thing on the line when the Chico State women’s soccer team takes part in the CCAA Championship Tournament this weekend in Turlock on the campus of Cal State Stanislaus. The Wildcats are also likely playing for a spot in the NCAA Championship Tournament, a bid to which the winner of the CCAA Championship Tournament earns automatically. Click here for a link to the Tournament Website.

The Wildcats finished the regular season 8-4-8 overall and claimed their third CCAA North Division title in four years with a 6-2-8 conference mark. Their eight ties matches the NCAA record, first set by Fort Lewis College last season.

The Wildcats will open up CCAA Championship Tournament play as the No. 4 seed against top-seeded Cal State L.A. (15-2-2) Friday at 1:30 pm. The Golden Eagles handed Chico State one of its two losses in CCAA action all season, 2-1, earlier this season in Southern California. In the first semifinal match, No. 2 seed UC San Diego (14-5-0) faces No. 3 Cal State Dominguez Hills (13-7-0) at 11 am. The semifinal winners will play for the tournament title Sunday at 11:30 am.

Chico State beat UC San Diego 2-0 in Chico on Sept. 20, and defeated Cal State Dominguez Hills 2-1 in Carson on Sept. 27.

Two wins this weekend would not only give the Wildcats their second CCAA title in the last two years, but would also give Head Coach Kim Sutton 150 career wins.

Senior Ali Sward and sophomore Lisa Webster lead the Wildcats on offense. Sward has played a scoring or assisting role in 68 percent of the Wildcats’ goals this year. She’s scored seven of the Wildcats’ 22 goals, and assisted on eight others. Webster, meanwhile, leads the team with nine assists and has also scored four goals.

As good as that pair has been, senior goalkeeper Natalie Bensky just might be the team’s 2009 MVP. She’s played every minute of every match and allowed only 15 goals for a 0.68 goals-against average that ranks fourth in Chico State single season history. Bensky has been especially stingy late this season, allowing just five goals in the last nine matches, six of which went overtime. Her GAA during that stretch is 0.48.

Bensky even turned away a penalty kick in the Wildcats' regular season finale at Cal State Monterey Bay Sunday. That could be a good omen. In the postseason, if matches are tied following double-overtime (as eight of the Wildcats' 20 have thus far in 2009, penalty kicks are taken to determine which team advances on.

Aug

September 2010

Oct

Thu, Sep. 02, 2010

Women's Soccer
vs Western Washington
4:30 p.m.

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Wildcats of the Week

Brian Beeman

Men's Track

As a decathlete, Brian Beeman is used to running all over the place. But he took it to a new level last week. After competing in the decathlon, high jump and javelin to help lead the Chico State men’s track & field team to the California Collegiate Athletic Association Championship March 6-8, he got on a bus and arrived back in Chico in the wee hours of Sunday morning. Then, he turned around to head back to Southern California for the Claremont Classic Decathlon and turned in an NCAA Provisional Qualifying mark and personal best score of 6,512 on Thursday and Friday.

That iron-man feet has earned him Wildcat of the Week honors.

Beeman finished sixth at the Burns Track and Field Complex while logging the 15th best score in the nation this year. He won the 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:31.75, placed third in the 400-meter dash (51.19 seconds) and tied for third in the high jump (6-feet-02.75).

Beeman and a number of his Wildcats teammates now await Wednesday morning’s NCAA Track and Field Championships selection show to found out if he’s earned a berth to the National Championships May 27-29 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Kacie McCarthy

Softball

Kacie McCarthy’s freshman season as a Wildcat has been filled with highlights, but the Shingletown native turned in her most memorable performances of the year last weekend in the NCAA West Sub-Regional at Sonoma State, posting three straight victories and helping Chico State advance to the West Super Regional in Hawaii. The Wildcats are just two wins away from reaching the Division II College World Series, thanks in large part to the pitching prowess of McCarthy, who is the latest recipient of Wildcat of the Week honors.

In Friday’s Sub-Regional opener, McCarthy took over for Chico State starter Jessica McDermott and tossed seven-and-a-third innings of relief, striking out a career-high 11 batters and earning the win as the Wildcats beat 15th ranked Grand Canyon University 5-4 in eight innings. In Saturday’s winner’s bracket game versus No. 14 Sonoma State, McCarthy twirled a one-hit shutout in Chico State’s 7-0 victory over the host Seawolves. Sunday McCarthy completed the postseason trifecta, going the distance for the 18th time this year and getting credit for the “W” as the ’Cats rallied back from three runs down to score four times in the bottom of the sixth inning and pull out a 4-3 victory over Dixie State to sweep through the Sub-Regional and advance to this weekend’s West Super Regional.

McCarthy, now 16-10 on the season, lowered her season ERA to 1.92 with the three weekend wins and is ranked third among California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) pitchers. She also is sixth in the conference in victories and innings pitched (164.1). She leads the Wildcats in wins, complete games, innings pitched and appearances (29).

Chico State takes on the No. 3 ranked Sea Warriors of Hawaii Pacific Friday at 5 p.m. Pacific time in the opener of the West Super Regional in Kaneohe, Hawaii. The winner of the best-of-three set will advance to the Division II College World Series May 27-31 in St. Joseph, Missouri.

9.2.10 | Women's Soccer

Chicowildcats.com now featuring soccer live stats

The Chico State Athletic Departments is pleased to announce that live stats for Chico State men's and women's soccer are now available. Simply click on the team's home page and then the Live Stats link on the right hand side. Live stats will be provided for every home match, and will also be available for all road California Collegiate Athletic Association matches via the host institution's web page.

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9.1.10 | Women's Soccer

Picture this: Women’s soccer team opens season Thursday

You don't always need a camera to take a memorable picture. The best picture I took last year, for instance, exists only in my brain. Molly Downtain is floating three feet above the soggy sod. Her mouth is open – somewhere between a guttural cry of victory and a beaming smile of bewilderment. Her fist pump has reached its peak. The knuckles on her right hand are bared.

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8.17.10 | Women's Soccer

Women’s soccer team rings in 2010

RENO, Nev. – There wasn't a bell announcing the start of the 2010 season for the Chico State and University of Nevada women's soccer teams. It just sounded like it when Melissa Pease's header pinged off the crossbar less than a minute into the match. That proved to be one of the most dangerous chances in the match as the teams played to a scoreless draw in an exhibition match at Mackay Stadium in Reno Tuesday.

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8.13.10 | General

See the Wildcats and save money with season tickets

The 2010 Chico State soccer and volleyball seasons are right around the corner and the best way to watch your favorite Wildcat in action is with a season ticket. Season ticket prices start at just $25 for an individual and can save you up to $92 off the regular admission price. Don't miss a bit of the action as the Wildcats battle it out in the California Collegiate Athletic Association. Just click here to download a soccer season ticket form and/or here for a volleyball season ticket form and you on your way!

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7.20.10 | Women's Soccer

Mid-season showdown with Dominguez Hills at University Soccer Stadium highlights women’s soccer schedule

How rough and tumble is the Chico State women’s soccer team’s annual California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) schedule? Let’s put it this way: Cal State Dominguez Hills played in the NCAA Championship final last season following a less-than-spectacular 11-5 record in the CCAA.

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6.21.10 | Women's Soccer

Women’s soccer team recognized for success on the field and in the classroom

The afterglow of the Chico State women’s soccer team Sweet 16 run in 2009-10 just keeps getting better. With a roster full of not only stellar athletes, but scholars as well, Head Coach Kim Sutton’s women recently received a pair of postseason honors.

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1.18.10 | Women's Soccer

Bensky and Perlman honored by Jewish Sports Review

LOS ANGELES – After a stellar postseason run in 2009, including the first NCAA Championship Tournament victory in the history of the program, the Chico State women’s soccer team has received two more individual honors. Senior goalkeeper Natalie Bensky and junior forward Ashley Perlman were both selected as Jewish All-Americans by the Jewish Sports Review in its January/February 2010 edition.

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