TURLOCK – The Cal State L.A. women’s soccer team, with its 10-match unbeaten streak, came into the California Collegiate Athletic Association Championship Tournament as the hottest team. And try as they might, the North Division Champion Chico State Wildcats could not cool off the 9th-ranked Golden Eagles, who scored early and held on for a 1-0 victory Friday at Warrior Stadium on the campus of Cal State Stanislaus.
“Cleary L.A. is a very good team and they’re playing their best soccer at the right time of the season,” said Wildcats Head Coach Kim Sutton. “But I thought we made some good second-half adjustments and gave ourselves some opportunities. We just couldn’t cash in.”
Chico State, coming off its third CCAAA North Division title in four years, fell to 8-5-8 on the season. The Wildcats will now await the NCAA Championship Tournament selection announcement Monday at 4 p.m. to find out if their 2009 season will continue with their four NCAA Championship Tournament berth in the last six years. The Wildcats entered the weekend ranked No. 5 in the West Region. The champions of the three West Region conferences earn automatic bids to the tournament, along with the next three highest-ranked teams.
“We’ll just be waiting for Monday, hoping we get another chance to play this season,” said Sutton. “We really missed Kelsey (Ikemoto) and Michelle (Grek) in the middle today and Ali (Sward) is clearly not 100-percent right now, but I feel like we sorted some of that out today and we’ll be better prepared to deal with those things if we make the NCAAs.”
Ikemoto, an All-CCAA selection, will miss the rest of the season with a leg injury. Grek started the match but was unable to go for long due to an ankle injury. Sward’s ankle injury has been a lingering issue for weeks, but seemed especially sore Friday.
Cal State L.A., the top-ranked team in the West, improved to 16-2-2. That’s the most wins in school history. The Golden Eagles will face Cal State Dominguez Hills in Sunday’s Championship match. Dominguez Hills beat UC San Diego on penalty kick in the first match of the day.
Cal State L.A. got on the board first in the 29th minute when a cross bounced off Wildcats defender Sarah Steele after she lost track of it in the bright sunlight and Liz Franco ran on to it and hammered it into the near post upper-V. Wildcats goalkeeper Natalie Bensky never had a chance to react.
Bensky’s play helped keep Chico State in the match early on. Though she was not credited with a save, she made a number of plays on crosses and passes that kept the Wildcats out of danger. She finished the day with three saves.
Chico State was outshot 23-6, though many of the Golden Eagles’ shots were not dangerous. Cal State L.A. finished with a 5-2 edge in shots on goal and a 2-1 advantage in corner kicks.
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