Clear blue skies went over Cox Stadium at San Francisco State University as the sun bolded the green grassy field on Friday afternoon. Seats lost their vacancy as fans from SFSU and California State University, Chico walked down the steps. Athletes from both teams huddled up as the clock on the scoreboard winded down for the game to start.

The SFSU men’s soccer team came back to Cox Stadium after two games on the road for the first home game of the 2024 regular season. The Gators hosted Chico State Wildcats, who are ranked 12th in Division II.

The Gators arrived for their home opener after starting off the regular season 0-1-1 against California State Polytechnic University, Pomona on Oct. 4 and California State University, San Bernardino on Oct 6.

The first notable defensive effort by the Gators was made by defender Marco Valdez, who headed the ball after it was thrown into the field by opposing defender Preston Moll, preventing an opportunity for the Wildcats.

For the Wildcats, the opportunity came 20 minutes into the first half when defender Bryan Manriquez passed the ball to defender Justin Ricketts, who headbutted it into the hands of Gators goalkeeper Mario De La Torre.

Moll created another chance for the Wildcats to strike first in the game. 22 minutes into the first half, Moll was given a free kick, which he kicked to Chico State defender Jacob Burnison for a chance on net, but the ball went above the crossbar.

The next chance for the Wildcats came two minutes after Moll’s opportunity. Wildcats forward Miles Rice had a path to the Gators’ net, but SFSU defender Valdez slid to redirect the rolling ball out of its path.

29 minutes into the game, midfielder Issay Bravo was subbed out for midfielder Jason Guzman, after being smacked in the head while chasing for the ball. Bravo would return to the field later in the game.

Toward the end of the first half, Wildcats midfielder Robbie Lloyd went past two defenders but the Gators’ defense stood strong and kicked it away from Lloyd’s direction.

SFSU also lost midfielder Aidan Olufson who received a red card 40 minutes into the game after he was out for eight minutes on the field.

The Wildcats led in corner kicks at halftime, 4-0, but both teams registered one shot on goal throughout the first 45 minutes.

“I think we were not reflecting what we’ve been working on during the week in the first 20 minutes,” said Sebastian Carrasco, SFSU men’s soccer team head coach. “When we started changing some players, we were starting to get our rhythm and reflecting the plan that we have.”

Both teams continued their momentum into the second half of the match, pushing for opportunities to change the scoreboard.

Valdez continued to make his presence known on defense by blocking Rice’s shot after the oncoming forward moved around Guzman.

“That’s just my job to do,” Valdez said. “I want to lead the team to success and keeping them from scoring is part of it.”

A scoring scare came with 36 minutes left when Wildcats midfielder Cayden Hotaling took a shot that grazed the outside of the net.

Under a minute after Hotaling’s chance, his teammate Rice scored on a rebound to the left of De La Torre. Rice’s goal gave the Wildcats a 1-0 lead early into the second half.

“Playing these good games, when you play with a player down, it’s very difficult,” Carrasco said. “But I think we executed very well, even when they scored the first goal, it wasn’t a tactical distraction from us.”

Bravo attempted a shot on goal with only Wildcats goalkeeper Weston Joyner in front of him but the shot went just top of the net with 22 minutes left in the match.

Four minutes after Bravo’s scoring chance, the Wildcats responded with their second goal of the afternoon. A turnaround shot by Rice found the back of the net and his second goal of the game handed his team a 2-0 lead with 18 minutes left.

Gators continued their hard efforts to create opportunities despite the two goals by the Wildcats, but the final score remained 2-0 to give the visitors their first California Collegiate Athletic Association conference win.

“I think we played well, probably played better than the other team but we lost,” De La Torre said. “I don’t know what it is — something is costing us games we should be winning.”

Bravo said the Gators performed very well despite being without Olufson on the field.

“I thought it was hard fought,” Bravo said. “We went down one man and it felt like we just did the best we could in that sense.”

Carrasco gave his players credit for their consistent resilience on the field after their opponents scored on them.

“We continue fighting, the players never give up, which is something I have to give credit to this team,” Carrasco said. “Under bad circumstances, they never give up and they continue fighting.”

The Gators will play against the Warriors from California State University, Stanislaus at Cox Stadium on Oct. 13.