CHICO, Calif. – The Saints faced a true road test against the Wildcats where they were defeated 6-1.

The first five minutes of a half is a hallmark moment in a soccer game.  Tonight's NCAA Division II men's clash between the host Chico State Wildcats (1-1-1) and the visiting Saint Martin's Saints (0-2-1) prove this age old theorem.  At just about the 3:00 minute mark in the first half the Wildcats counter-attacked off a Saints possession and within second of the steal, buried the ball in the back of Saint Martin's goal.  

Saints Head Coach Rob Walker commented, "we had a great game plan and the team looked sharp at the kick-off.  We attempted to penetrate Chico State's back line and gave the ball away and then suffered the consequences of a classic counter attack that went through the space we vacated and we didn't deal with their speed on and off the ball. " Despite having several promising openings following the goal, the Saints were victimized again at the 12:00 mark and fell behind 0-2.  

In the first half the Wildcats outshot the Saints 13-6. The Saints had quality shooting opportunities from midfielders Diego Andrade and Caden Martin who had good "looks"  from the top of the Wildcat penalty area. After the interval, Saint Martin's pulled a goal back when Jay Mendoza and Ethan Jud assisted on Arjun Gill's first goal of the season.  

Shortly after the Saints goal, Chico State reinforced their lineup and  scored in the 50th, 59th, 70th and 80th minute to overrun a fatigued Saint Martin's team in the heat of a Northern California evening.  Chico State finished with nine shots to Saint Martin's four in the second half.  SMU's Hunter Askland had five saves on the night, his last being a goal saving parry before coming off for Senior Bryce Porter.  

Coach Walker summarized the next steps for the Saints this way, " we had a good game plan, but the boys are going to have to assess risks versus rewards going forward and defend better individually and collectively when we lose the ball. We were second-best in a few tackles and, in a few situations where we needed to intercept the ball and play out cleanly, we didn't get that done. This is  not  a secret, this scenario is played out every time two teams play against each other. We get our opportunity to move forward as a team in less than 48 hours."

The Saints close out their second week of non-conference play when they make the trek to Rohnert park, to play Sonoma State University on Saturday at 11 AM.