CHICO -- Senior forward
Albert Cabrera scored twice in less than two minutes midway through the first half and Cal State San Bernardino's defense made them stand up for a 2-1 CCAA conference men's soccer victory Sunday over 20th-ranked and previously unbeaten Chico State.
Cabrera, the team's leading scorer in 2009 and an all-CCAA and all-West Region selection, raised his season goal count to three with the lightning strike, enabling the Coyotes to improve to 4-2 on the season and 2-2 in the CCAA.
The win also snapped the Coyotes' two-match losing streak. Chico State is now 5-1, 3-1 in the CCAA.
Senior goalkeeper
Arath De La Rocha was challenged by the Wildcats and made three saves before finally yielding a goal in the 74th minute.
CSUSB, which entered the weekend ranked No. 6 in the NCAA Division II West Region, broke through at 29:02 of the first half when Cabrera drilled a low shot from the 18-yard line off a feed from senior
Jose Godinez.
At 30:43 of the half, Cabrera struck again, with a hard volley off an assist by senior forward
Obi Agwu.
The Coyotes didn't rest on their laurels. They challenged Chico's second goalkeeper of the day, James Stroud in the second half and Stroud responded with three saves in the final 45 minutes.
After being held scoreless for nearly three-quarters of the match, Chico State -- ranked No. 3 in the West Region -- got on the board on a goal by Chris Akwaja who finished a deflected pass from Michael Teiku at 74:17.
Chico State had an edge in shots (16-14) and corner kicks (6-4), while the Coyotes were whistled seven times for offsides compared to just two such calls on Chico State.
The match started an hour later than the scheduled 11:30 a.m. because two of the three officials were not present. The officials issued eight yellow cards during the match, seven of them to the Chico State side.
CSUSB will host its first home matches of the season next Friday and Sunday when Cal State Dominguez Hills and current No. 1 Cal State L.A. come to Coyote Premier Field.
