One was a thrilling come-from-behind victory, the other was a suspense-filled triumph as the Gators slid back into contention with two big conference wins this weekend.

SF State’s men’s soccer team (4-5-2, 2-4 California Collegiate Athletic Association) snapped their four-game conference losing streak by defeating previously unbeaten No. 17 Chico State (8-1, 4-1 CCAA) in overtime and Cal State Stanislaus (1-6-1, 0-5 CCAA) at Cox Stadium.

Although each game resulted in a win, both victories had some nail-biting moments.

An adjustment to the lineup proved vital as SF State head coach Joe Hunter moved junior Wes Whitt back to defender and moved sophomore Charles Conway up to striker.

“We put Conway up front to give us some size and composure up there, and moved Wes to the back to give us some athleticism. And that worked out today,” Hunter said.

Against Chico State the Gators played their best soccer of the season, keeping the high-scoring Wildcats to one soft goal after Chico’s Kyle Crain snuck a free kick around the Gators’ wall to take the first lead, 1-0.

In the 77th minute, freshman Anton Ugarte was picked by team captain Dylan Glass to take a penalty kick, much to his surprise.

“I thought some upper classman was going to step up. But when they picked me, I thought it was cool that they have confidence in me,” Ugarte said. “It felt good.”

Ugarte, the team’s leading goal scorer, responded by beating the keeper to the right to tie the game at 1-1.
It was Ugarte’s fourth goal of the season, which set the stage for an unbelievable finish.

Five minutes into overtime after Ugarte went down with an injury, Conway passed to Mario Hernandez who, disregarding his team’s pleas to kick it out of bounds, launched a perfect ball three yards past midfield that glided right over the Chico keeper’s fingertips and into the top left corner of the net for the game-winning goal.

The improbable golden goal sent the team into a frenzy as they ran on the field, grabbed Hernandez at midfield and piled on top of him. It was Hernandez’s first goal of his collegiate career.

“That was a great piece of skill. Top 10 on anybody’s list. The goalie didn’t expect it and it was a great way to win a game,” Glass said.

“We played the complete 90 minutes and I told the guys, if you do that you have a fighting chance in every game you’re in. That’s the most important thing,” Hunter said.

On Sunday, the Gators dominated play against an inexperienced CSU Stanislaus team as they out-shot the Warriors 13-to-1 in the first half and 23-to-6 overall.

The first goal came after Spencer Schwandt located the ball in a scramble in the opponents’ box. He controlled the ball, then drove it to the back of the net for the 1-0 lead.

Glass connected on a header off a perfect cross from Bobby Maeda to give SF State a 2-0 lead.

SF State took the two-goal lead into the final minutes of the game, but the Gators’ inability to close out the game kept Stanislaus within striking distance after the Warriors scored a soft goal with eight minutes left in the game.

A spectacular diving save by Israel Cisneros in the 87th minute secured the victory for the purple and gold. Cisneros was named SF State Athlete of the Week after allowing only two goals over the weekend.

The two wins give SF State six points in the CCAA North Division and put them back on track after starting off the season 0-4 in the conference.

Things will not get any easier for the Gators as they begin another rough part of their schedule with five CCAA games in 10 days, beginning with a trip to Southern California.

SF State will play Cal State San Bernardino in San Bernardino on Friday at 3 p.m.