CHICO, Calif- Sophomore Trevor Hurst scored with just 2:56 remaining in regulation, helping the No. 8 Sonoma State Seawolves clinch the California Collegiate Athletic Association North Division title for the sixth consecutive season after defeating Chico State, 2-1, on Friday night at the University Soccer Stadium. The Seawolves, ranked second in this week's NCAA West Region poll, improved to 13-2-2 overall and 10-2-1 in the conference. The Wildcats fell to 7-6-4 (4-5-4 CCAA).

"This game was very exciting," remarked head coach Marcus Ziemer, "The atmosphere was incredible and in the second half, the action was end to end.  We had a lot of fans on hand and nearly a dozen alumni made it up for the game."

In a heated battle between the two arch rivals, the Seawolves drew first blood when sophomore forward Taylor Jones took a rebound off a shot taken by junior David Holleran and blasted it into the net from three feet out for his team-leading sixth goal of the season. The 1-0 lead held through halftime but Chico State's Josh Johnson scored the equalizer at 57:55 when he took a pass from Nick Tedrow and headed it past Sonoma State goalkeeper Brook Johnson from just five feet out.

"We had several chances to go up 2-0,but we didn't put them away," said Ziemer.  "I told our guys at halftime that Chico was going to come out hard and try to get back into the game...and they did."

The match got more and more physical as time winded down. Seven yellow cards were issued in the second half (nine total), but the Seawolves held strong and found the game-winner at 87:04 when Hurst found the net after taking a cross pass from sophomore Cam Vickers, sending Sonoma State into a frenzy.

Johnson made six huge saves for the Seawolves in the victory, five of which came in the final 45 minutes of regulation. His counterpart, Chico State's Michael Keohane, made seven stops in the match but surrendered the two goals on the night.

"I was happy that we found a way to win the game, but I told the team afterwards that this was good enough for tonight, but it wasn't good enough for us to reach our goals.  We need to concentrate for 90 minutes," commented Ziemer after the game.

The win sealed Sonoma State's sixth straight north division title and Ziemer's eighth since the division formed in 1998.

"We are having a great year for a "rebuilding year", Ziemer concluded, "At the beginning of the season, my personal goal was to be in the conference tournament and in a position to fight for a spot in the NCAAs.  Winning the north puts us in the conference event and the rest of the season will determine the NCAA spot."

The Seawolves will head to Cal State Stanislaus on Sunday to take on the Warriors at 3 p.m. at Warrior Stadium. Stanislaus (9-6-1, 6-6-1 CCAA) defeated Humboldt State, 3-1, on Friday.

Box Score: #8 Sonoma State 2, Chico State 1