BOX SCORE Chico State 1, Sonoma State 0

ROHNERT PARK, Calif- It was a back-and-forth match all the way to the end, but Chico State's Chris Akwaja deflated Sonoma State's hopes of reaching the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Men's Soccer Championship Tournament with a go-ahead goal in the 81st minute. The Seawolves had several excellent chances in the final minutes, but the Wildcat defense held strong for the 1-0 victory over SSU in the regular season finale on Sunday at the Seawolf Soccer Field.

The loss eliminated the Seawolves, who were hoping to clinch the fourth and final spot in the CCAA tournament next weekend. The 2011 season comes to an end for Sonoma State, as it finishes with a 9-6-3 overall record and a 8-5-3 mark in conference play, ending a string of seven straight appearances in the conference's annual postseason event. The Wildcats, ranked 24th in this week's NSCAA Division II Top 25 poll, won the CCAA North Division title for the second straight season and will head into next weekend's conference tournament with a 12-3-3 overall record. They finished CCAA regular season play with a 11-3-2 mark.

"I was really happy with how we played all year," SSU head coach Marcus Ziemer said. "We kept the ball and were really fun to watch, even when we didn't get the result. Our goal is obviously to win games, but with a style that is enjoyable to play and entertaining for fans to watch."

Added Ziemer, "We had a good team, but we were a little inconsistent and undiciplined at times. We play a style that demands concentration and sharpness in order to be effective and both weren't always there. The good thing is that we had a lot of young players that gained a lot of experience this year."

It was a relatively even contest through the first 45 minutes of play, but the visitors held a slight advantage in shots at 5-4. SSU goalkeeper Taylor Jones made two big stops in the first half, while his counterpart, Chico's James Stroud, made one save to keep a pair of zeroes on the scoreboard at halftime.

With playoff implications on the line, both teams came out with passion and intensity; however, the Wildcats held a lead in shot attempts, putting pressure on the Seawolf backline. With less than 15 minutes to play in regulation and neither team without a goal, the tempo picked up and it was only a matter of time before someone netted the first goal of the day.

It was with 9:18 left on the clock that the ball found the net, but it was Chico State who converted. Ferid Celosmanovic and Tyson Crim teamed up to get the ball into Akwaja at the top of the 18. Akwaja then tried turning to his left, stumbled, spun to his right then blasted a laser past Jones and into the back of the net for the 1-0 Wildcat lead.

Over the next three minutes, Chico continued the offensive pressure, firing off three shots, including one by Celosmanovic that hit the crossbar.

Trailing by one with just minutes remaining, Sonoma earned a free kick from just outside the penalty box, giving the Seawolves a fantastic opportunity to find the equalizer. On the ensuing indirect kick, Ebby Lombardi took the shot after it was touched in play by another SSU player, but the ball, which angled around the left of the Chico State wall of bodies, just missed wide left.

The final scoring chance for the Seawolves came with just 10 seconds on the clock when Trevor Hurst booted a shot from the left side, but it sailed wide right and the clock expired, signaling the 1-0 win for Chico State.

When all was said and done, Chico held a 16-10 advantage in shots, including a 11-6 total in the final 45 minutes. Sonoma attempted six of the seven corner kicks by either team in the second half, but the Wildcats were able to weather the storm and keep the Seawolves out of the net.

Jones made seven saves in the loss, while Stroud made three on the other end of the field. Lombardi attempted a team-high three shots, while Hurst and Justin Ferreira fired two shots apiece.

"Jones was great in the goal today," Ziemer said. "He made a few outstanding saves."

Crim led Chico State with four shot attempts while Celosmanovic and Akwaja took three shots.

"This was a crazy year with a lot of parity in the CCAA," said Ziemer. "We just needed to win a couple of games down the stretch, but could only manage two ties and two losses. We defended well, only allowing four goals in our last four games, including three double overtime games, but it was a bad time for our offense to dry up."

Despite the loss, Sonoma State experienced its 13th straight winning season and its 20th under head coach Marcus Ziemer.

It was a unfortunate end for seven SSU student-athletes that saw their collegiate career come to a close on Sunday. Andrew Ball, Ebby Lombardi, Trevor Hurst, Taylor Jones, Ricardo Sandoval, Justin Ferreira and Ryan Smitchger will be completing their degree in the Spring, and/or have exhausted their athletic eligibility.

Ziemer concluded by saying, "I feel for the seniors because we had a team that could have gotten hot and accomplished some things in the CCAA and beyond, but now their SSU careers are over.  Even though we didn't get into the CCAA tournament,  the season was still a lot of fun.  We had a great bunch of guys and everyone enjoyed traveling and playing together."