Cal State L.A. Athletics

Box Score

ARCATA -- Cal State L.A.'s first-ever stay as the No. 1-ranked team in the NCAA Division II will be a short one.

The Golden Eagles, in their first game as the No. 1 team in nation, fell behind early and never recovered in a stunning 3-0 California Collegiate Athletic Association loss at Humboldt State. Cal State L.A, (11-1-1, 9-1-1) saw its nine-match winning streak come to an end.

The Golden Eagles had a 12-9 advantage in shots, but Humboldt State scored on its first two shots in the first 24 minutes of the match and never relinquished its advantage. The three goals allowed by the Golden Eagles are a season high and Cal State L.A. was blanked for the first time this season.

Cal State L.A. might have gotten a feeling it wasn't its day early in the match when Aza Gomez had a shot hit the crossbar less than 10 minutes in. Humboldt State responded with a pair of goals from Josh Suggs in a nine-minute span. His first goal came in the 15th minute when he shot into an empty net from about 25 yards out.

Then, in the 24th minute, he took a through pass from Scott Mariani and lobbed it over Cal State L.A. goalie Tobias Hummel from about 20 yards out to make it 2-0.

Humboldt State then made it 3-0 in the 54th minute when Tony Ramirez scored off a long throw-in.

Although the Golden Eagles took 12 shots in the contest, only two were on goal and required saves. Kyle Verle made both saves for Humboldt State to record the shutout, while Hummel made two saves for the Golden Eagles.

Gomez and Federico Cino had three shots each for the Golden Eagles. 

Things don't figure to get any easier for the Golden Eagles, who now must travel to Rohnert Park to face No. 7 Sonoma State on Sunday. The Seawolves were also undefeated heading into Friday's play, but suffered their first loss, a 2-0 setback to Cal State Dominguez Hills.