CHICO, Calif. – The fifth-seeded Cal State San Marcos men's soccer team (7-7-5) is headed to the semifinals of the CCAA Tournament for the very first time after the Cougars knocked off No. 11 and fourth-seeded Chico State (11-1-7) by a score of 5-4 in penalty kicks after tying 1-1 in the first round of the conference tournament at University Soccer Stadium on Sunday.
 
GOALS
CHICO – 58' Vasilios Syrengelas (Unassisted)
CSUSM – 68' Riley Patterson (Assisted by Ryan Meinardus and Curtis Collazos)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Scoreless after 45 minutes, CSUSM led the way in shots at 7-2 while having the period's only three shots on goal. All three shots on goal came from Curtis Collazos.
• Chico scored the game's first goal in the 58th minute. After Jesus Mentado made a save on a Wildcat advance, Syrengelas grabbed the rebound in the top left corner of the box and curved a shot past a couple Cougar defenders and into the left side of the goal to give Chico a 1-0 lead.
• Just 10 minutes later, CSUSM knotted the game at 1-1. Collazos put a pass into the left side of the box from outside of the box on the right side. The pass connected with the head of Meinardus before Patterson was able to put a shot into the left side of the goal from six yards out.
• After two scoreless overtime periods, CSUSM and Chico went to penalty kicks. After the Cougars and Wildcats each made their first four attempts, Vincent Saldivar made the go-ahead fifth shot for CSUSM. Chico's Noah Ross lined up for the Wildcats' fifth attempt and put a high shot over the goal to send the Cougars to the semifinals of the CCAA Tournament.

 
QUICK KICKS

• This was CSUSM's first-ever CCAA Tournament contest.
• The was the third consecutive tie between CSUSM and Chico and second in Chico this season. CSUSM and Chico previously posted a scoreless draw in regular-season play in Chico on Oct. 1.
• This was the first time in program history that a CSUSM contest ended in penalty kicks.
• Chico edged out CSUSM in shots at 15-14 and shots on goal at 6-5.
• The Wildcats took seven corner kicks to the Cougars' four.
• CSUSM won the battle of possession by controlling the ball for 51% of the contest and held the ball in Chico territory for 59% of its possessions.
• Patterson's goal was his second of the season.
• Collazos and Meinardus each tallied their team-leading fourth assist of the season.
• Meinardus earned his team-leading 16th point of the year while Collazos recorded his 14th.
• Mentado tied his season high for saves at five. He previously tallied five in the regular-season game at Chico State on Oct. 1.
• This was Head Coach Ron Pulvers' 500th career game as a men's head coach and 650th contest as a both a men's and women's head coach.

 
UP NEXT
CSUSM will take on No. 4 and top-seeded Cal State LA (15-1-1) in the semifinals of the CCAA Tournament on Friday at 1:30 p.m. at College Creek Soccer Field on the campus of Cal Poly Humboldt in Arcata.
 
Fans can purchase their tickets now through the CCAA Championships ticketing portal.