With the final run of six matches, the Lumberjacks know each match is vital to get the winning three points.

     The winning points will now have to be earned on the road with only the final contest to be played at home.

     HSU will travel south for a tilt at CSU San Bernardino on Friday, before going back north for a battle with California Collegiate Athletic Association South Division leading Chico State on Sunday morning.

     
    Jacks explode for five goals

     It took almost the whole first half for HSU to get in full gear and break on to Friday's scoreboard, but its running motor ended up pouring in a season-high total by the final horn.

     For the first time in just under three years, the Lumberjacks booted the ball into the goal five times in the second shutout of the year, 5-0, over the Gators of San Francisco State.

     Zach Hammond's two goals including the first score in the final five minutes of the opening stanza and an assist led four different HSU goal scorers and six total point producers in the winning cause.

     Forward Braxton Griffin registered his third consecutive match with a goal scored and assisted on another. 

     Sam Wahl and Ryan Connor accounted for the other two HSU goals with assists coming from Peter Darquea and Quintin Aguilar.

     Goalie Ryan Ades continues to improve in net and saved three shots in a combined shutout.  Freshman Chris Bean logged the final 10:48 to complete the blanking of the Gators. 

     Otters have Jacks number for second time

     For the second time this fall, Cal State Monterey Bay proved to have HSU's men's soccer number in what was a big CCAA North tilt last Sunday.

     With great weather outside, the Jacks' end result was not as the Otters took a 3-1 victory.

     Cal State Monterey Bay (7-3-2) claimed the important California Collegiate Athletic Association victory to maintain its top spot in the North Division at 5-3-2. The HSU defeat kept three key points in the standings from them to take the Sunday host to 3-6-1 in the league and 5-6-1 overall.

     The Cal State Monterey Bay striker Max Madrigal gave his team a two-goal cushion when he took a pass from the far left sideline and hit into the right side for a 2-0 margin with 50:14 off the clock.

     The Jacks made their push a bit over 10 minutes later.

 Chuck Pitts hit a long pass down the middle of the field where Zach Hammond found the goal for the third time on the weekend when he push the ball through the arms of the Otters' goalie Evan Drake into the net.  The Hammond tally made it a one-goal game with 22 minutes left to play but the home charge could not merit another score.

     Hammond nose for scoring

     The CCAA's leading scorer Zach Hammond continues to put points on the board at a steady pace.

     The senior forward has now recorded points in nine of the Jacks' 11 matches with four points in the two home matches last weekend.

     Hammond's 10 goals ties him for eighth most in a HSU in program history and is the top amount for any CCAA player.  The Redmond, Wash. native also is tops in shots (43) and second in points at 23.

     Against San Francisco State, Hammond put in two goals including the game-winner and assisted on another off his penalty kick attempt.  He followed the performance with the Jacks' only Sunday goal.

     CCAA North Division playoff push

     With the final three weeks of CCAA matches about to start, the postseason playoff push is upon us.

     Cal State Monterey Bay leads the North Division with 17 points with Sonoma State (14) and HSU (10) in the next two spots.

     The North and South Division winner gain an automatic CCAA playoff berth and the next two teams no matter division.

     The likelihood of a second North Division team getting one of the wild card spots is slim with the depth of the South Division field.

     The three teams will have the weekend broken down as:

     Friday: Sonoma St. at Chico St.

         Cal State Stanislaus at CSU Monterey Bay

     Sunday: CSU East Bay at CSU Monterey Bay

                  Sonoma St. at CSU San Bernardino

Weekend's CCAA road matches

     at CSU San Bernardino (Fri at 12:00 p.m.):

    Season Record: 4-7-3/2-7-1 CCAA South
    Series History: CSUSB leads 6-2
    Last meeting: HSU 1-0 win on Oct. 23, 2011 in San Bernardino
    Last HSU win: Last meeting
   Coyotes' 2012 record: 5-5-7/5-5-5 CCAA South

     *Coached by 3rd-year Lance Thompson

     *Coyotes recorded a 0-0 tie at Cal Poly Pomona on Sunday to break a seven-match losing streak

     *Have scored only 1 goal in the last four matches ... netted only two goals in the last eight contests

      *Have been shutout eight times of 14 matches

     *Larry Llamas is fourth in the CCAA with 32 shots

     *Tigran Tiraturyan, Juan Gonzalez and Raul Gomez have scored two goals apiece

      *Despite the long losing streak, the Coyotes' goals against average is still 0.75 over 1323 minutes

      *Goalie Jeff Salt has 36 saves and a 0.80 GAA in 895 min.

     vs. Chico State (Sun. at 11:30 a.m.):

    Season Record: 10-2-0/8-2-0 CCAA South
    Series History: Chico State leads 43-14-6
    Last meeting: Chico State won 2-1 on Oct. 28, 2011 in Arcata
    Last HSU win: 2-1 win in 2nd meeting of 2009 in Chico
    Wildcats' 2012 record: 9-3-6/8-1-5 CCAA North

     *Coached by 6th-year Felipe Restrepo ... holds a 68-29-15 record directing Chico State with three CCAA North titles and a West Region title

     *Wildcats have shut out their last four opponents including Cal Poly Pomona (2-0) and UC San Diego (1-0) last weekend

     *Have allowed only six goals in 12 matches

     *Won the last five matches by a combined 9-1 scoring margin

     *Team holds a 0.50 goals against average in 1084 minutes

     *Goalie Sam Evans leads the CCAA netminders in goals against (1) and goals against average (0.20), while James Stroud in 634 minutes has a 0.71 GAA and allowed only 3 goals

     *Justin Walmsley leads Chico St. with three goals and five others have two scores each.

     *Matt Hurlow is 5th in CCAA with 31 shots