Box Score: Chico State 2, #17 Sonoma State 0

CHICO, Calif- Playing three men down late in the second half, the Sonoma State men's soccer team was unable to overcome a two goal deficit as host Chico State defeated the Seawolves, 2-0, on Friday evening in front of 1,126 people at University Soccer Stadium in the first round of the NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Championships. The Seawolves end their season at 14-6-1 overall.

"That was a crazy game," head coach Marcus Ziemer said following the match.

It was a physical and emotional battle of two CCAA rivals, and the game played itself out to be just that. The match featured 25 fouls, six yellow cards, five red cards and two teams without their head coach at the final horn.

Right from the get-go, Chico State fed off their loud, yet supportive, crowd and connected on a goal just seven minutes, 17 seconds into the match. It was a free kick by Ferid Celosmanovic that found Zach Bradford at the mouth of the goal. Bradford redirected the ball past Sonoma State goalkeeper Juan Sosa and into the left side of the net.

However, the Seawolves held their own ground and led the match in shots for most of the half. The Wildcats evened the shot category, though, and both teams went into halftime with seven shots apiece. Ultimately, Chico State had the 1-0 lead.

The second half is when the game's physicality came into play. As the emotions ran high, the cards came flying as well. All 11 cards issued by the officials came at the 45 minute mark and beyond. The two teams played neck-and-neck for the first part of the half, but a straight red card on freshman Taylor Varnadore put the Seawolves a man down with almost 40 minutes remaining in the match. It was then that both Sonoma State's Marcus Ziemer and Chico State's Felipe Restrepo were awarded red cards and sent off for the remainder of the match.

With Sonoma State playing with just 10 players on the field, Chico State saw the advantage and pushed their way into SSU territory as much as they could. The Wildcats fired off nine shots in the second half to the Seawolves' three.

The fourth red card of the match came flying out on Trevor Hurst which put Sonoma State down two men in the match. Just 21 seconds later, Erick Delgado, who received a yellow card earlier in the match, had another yellow card pulled on him, which led to an automatic red card and ejection from the match. It became 11-on-8 from that point on.

Chico State didn't waste anytime taking advantage of Sonoma State's disadvantage. Josh Johnson crossed over to Celosmanovic, who rocketed a shot into the net from 25 yards out for the 2-0 Wildcat lead and eventual victory.

"I was proud of how we battled and kept our composure," Ziemer added. "We still created chances with ten and even nine men, but when the referee reduced us to eight, it was very difficult."

The Wildcats outshot the Seawolves 16-10, including the 9-3 margin in the final 45 minutes. Sosa made two saves in the loss, while his counterpart, Chico's Sam Evans, made three saves. Cam Vickers and Hurst led SSU with three shots in the match.

Added Ziemer, "There was a great crowd and atmosphere. We had a large contingent of alumni, family and friends. Our four seniors -- Sosa, Brandon Dela Cruz, Ryan Hall and David Holleran -- will be missed. They have been warriors for us and have had great careers. I am glad that they won a CCAA championship this year because they deserve it."

Hall, who was a First Team All-CCAA selection in his final season at Sonoma State, was named to the West Regional All-Tournament team, it was announced following the regional championship game on Sunday, Nov. 14.

After finishing second in the CCAA North Division, Sonoma State bounced back in the conference tournament and captured the CCAA title for the second time in three seasons -- the third time in program history. Chico State (14-6-0) will move on to face PacWest champion and second seed Grand Canyon in the regional final on Sunday.