Box Score
LOS ANGELES– Cal State L.A.’s men’s soccer team came up short in its quest for an NCAA Division II West Region championship.
The Golden Eagles fell behind late in the first half and had three outstanding chances in the latter stages of the second half go awry in a 1-0 loss to defending national champion Cal State Dominguez Hills Sunday at Jesse Owens Track. Cal State L.A. (18-4-1) reached the regional championship game for the third time in the past four years, but had its season ended by the Toros in the title game for a second straight season.
Cal State Dominguez Hills (18-5-1) continued its late-season surge and won its 12th straight match.
Cal State L.A. had a 13-8 edge in shots, while Cal State Dominguez Hills had an 8-5 advantage in corner kicks. Cal State L.A. was whistled for 19 fouls, while Cal State Dominguez Hills was whistled for 18.
It was a physical contest with eight yellow cards, four on each side.
Cal State L.A. goalie
Jose Martinez and Cal State Dominguez Hills goalie Markus Dickerson each made three saves in the contest.
The tight defensive struggle on Sunday was quite a contrast to Friday’s first-round matches when Cal State Dominguez Hills scored three first-half goals and breezed past Sonoma State, 3-0, while Cal State L.A. needed two late goals to subdue Cal State San Bernardino in a wild 5-3 decision.
The first 30 minutes or so in Sunday’s contest were marked by a steady stream of fouls and choppy play. It wasn’t until about 37 minutes in when Cal State Dominguez Hills offensive pressure resulted in three consecutive corner kicks that teams started to generate some chances.
The only scoring in Sunday’s game came in the 41st minute when Greg Piechota was able to head in a perfectly-lofted pass from Andrew Marinez to the left corner of the goal.
The Toros had an excellent shot at a 2-0 lead early in the second half, but a header by Piechota was snared by Martinez.
After enduring the Toros’ pressure early in the second half, Cal State L.A. finally began getting some quality chances in the late stages of the game, only to be disappointed.
Federico Cino had a hard shot from outside the box just miss the right post in the 67
th minute.
Then, with six minutes left,
Hector Macias, from inside the box, hit a shot that sailed just over the crossbar. Finally, with about 30 seconds remaining,
Kristian Gaustad had a point-blank blast go just over the bar.
Cal State L.A. had a 5-1 advantage in shots in the second half.
Cal State L.A.’s 18 wins is the most for a Golden Eagle team since the 1981 squad won 20 matches and advanced to the NCAA Division II championship game.