CHICO, Calif. – The University of California, Merced men's soccer team exploded for five unanswered goals to earn a 5-2 win at Chico State on Saturday afternoon at University Soccer Stadium.
The Bobcats (6-5-3, 5-5) five goals marked their most in a match since November 7, 2024. Saturday also marked UC Merced's second win this year when trailing 2-0. The Bobcats trailed 2-0 after 37 minutes and then tied the game with two late first half goals. UC Merced got the eventual game-winning goal in the 64th minute and never looked back.
Jose Ontiveros led the Bobcats with five points, scoring two goals and recording an assist. The sophomore, who had three straight goal contributions to give the Bobcats a 4-2 lead in the 67th minute, is the Bobcats first underclassman since Roberto Ceja on November 5, 2021 with a five-point outing. Also of note, he notched the first five-point game of any Bobcat since Daniel Borges (Oct. 4, 2024) and the first five-point game of any CCAA player in a conference road game since Stanislaus State's Josh Santillan on September 23, 2022.
Ontiveros' brace was the second of his career, while the assist marked the first of his career.
Christian Khanishian scored the Bobcats first goal in the 39th minute. Ontiveros had the equalizer in the 42nd and game-winner in the 65th minute, while Jose Vazquez (67') and Carlos Miranda (84') added to the Bobcats fireworks. Juan Lara had his first career two-assist outing. Matthew Aldana recorded one assist, his second in the last three games.
Chico State scored both of its goals on corner kicks, a header in the 16th minute and then a tap in near the back post in the 37th minute.
Khanishian cut the Bobcats deficit in half in the 39th minute off a beautiful ball ball played over the top by Lara. Lara's ball led the charging Khanishian into the corner of the box and pulled the goalkeeper off his line. Despite a defender on each side of him, Khanishian managed to fire his shot on his first touch into the back of the net. Khanishian's goal was his first career CCAA goal, his eighth career goal in all contests.
Ontiveros tied the game on a corner kick in the 42nd minute. Aldana took the corner kick from the right side and sent it back post. Lara was positioned perfectly to head Aldana's cross to the top of the goal area for Ontiveros, who then sent a header of his own into the goal.
The Bobcats went for the same corner kick combination a few minutes later, but a foul was called after Lara's header. The game remained tied 2-2 at halftime.
Ontiveros tallied the winner just over 19 minutes into the second half heading in a service from Ezekiel Cruz. Cruz's assist, his first in CCAA play and fourth of the year, came in from the corner of the box to the goal area for his forward.
The Bobcats wasted no time getting another goal. Vazquez earned the Bobcats a corner 90 seconds after the game-winner and benefitted shortly after with a goal of his own. The corner was taken and hit in the air by the Wildcats keeper. The ball came down to Ontiveros in the corner of the goal area and he played Vazquez near the post to tap it in with his left foot. Vazquez's goal was his third of the year.
Angel Joaquin made multiple great defensive plays between all of the Bobcats goals. He also helped create the Bobcats fifth goal with a long ball from his line into the Bobcats attacking third. Miranda took it on the second hop and was into the box after two dribbles. Chico State's keeper met Miranda at the top of the box, but Miranda stood strong and stuck with the opportunity and buried his second attempt into the net for his first goal of the season and tenth of his career.
UC Merced made the most of their opportunities, putting five of its seven shots into the back of the net on the day. Overall, Chico State outshot the Bobcats 20-14, 8-7 on frame. Chico State also won the corner kick battle 11-5.
The Bobcats shots were spread out between eleven different players. Ontiveros, Vazquez, and Aldana recorded two shots each off the bench.
Joaquin finished with six saves in goal, his second highest saves tally of the year. Arguably his most impressive defensive play came on a 2-on-1 in the 81st minute to keep the Bobcats in front 4-2.
With Joaquin's 90 minutes between the posts, he passed Heriberto Diaz for third in program history with 3,250 career minutes in goal. He also passed Brycen Miller for fourth all-time with 19 career wins.
Freshman Ricky Perez came on in the 85th minute for his collegiate debut.
Looking ahead, UC Merced will host Menlo College on Thursday, October 22 at 7:00pm on Bobcat Field in Merced, Calif.
