Cal State L.A. Athletics

LOS ANGELES – Cal State L.A.’s men’s and women’s soccer teams will be hosting NCAA Division II playoff action this week after both earned No. 1 seeds in the West Region.

 

The women’s team, which claimed its first-ever conference championship on Sunday, will host a three-team regional that begins on Friday with a match between No. 5 Dixie State and No. 4 Cal State Dominguez Hills. Cal State L.A., the No. 1 seed, will then play the Dixie State-Cal State Dominguez Hills winner on Sunday at noon. The winner of that match will advance to the West Regional championship match next week at a site to be determined. The other three-team regional this week is being hosted by UC San Diego.

 

The men’s team will host No. 4 seed Cal State San Bernardino at 7 p.m. Friday following a match between No. 2 Cal State Dominguez Hills and No. 3 Sonoma State at 4 p.m. The men’s championship match will be held on Sunday at 3 p.m.

Chris Chamides is the head coach for both the men's and women's teams and was named the CCAA Coach of the Year for both sports. Michael Jacobson is the assistant for both squads.

 

Cal State L.A.’s women will be making the program’s second appearance in the NCAA playoffs and its second in three years. The Golden Eagles are hosting for the first time ever. Cal State L.A. made the NCAA playoffs for the first time in 2007 and advanced to the West Regional championship game.

 

The Golden Eagles are riding a 12-match unbeaten streak and have seven games in a row, including two straight at the four-team California Collegiate Athletic Association Championship Tournament over the weekend at Cal State Stanislaus. Cal State L.A. blanked Chico State, 1-0, in a semi-final match and then won the championship with a 4-0 win over Cal State Dominguez Hills on Sunday.

 

Liz Franco, the conference’s Most Outstanding Offensive Player of the Year, had a remarkable tournament and scored four of the team’s five goals in the two games, including a three-goal hat trick against Cal State Dominguez Hills on Sunday. She was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Offensive Player, while teammate Caroline Hanna was the tournament’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player of the Year.

 

Dixie State (14-4) is the champion of the Pacific-West Conference and comes into the tourney with 13 wins in its last 14 matches. Cal State Dominguez Hills (13-8-1) comes into the tourney off its runner-up finish in the CCAA Championship Tournament.

 

On the men’s side, all four participants are from the CCAA. Defending national champion Cal State Dominguez Hills (16-5-1) and Sonoma State (14-4-4) will get things started on Friday afternoon with a rematch of the CCAA Championship game from Sunday won by the Toros, 3-2, in double overtime. Cal State Dominguez Hills enters on a roll, winning its last 10 matches. Sonoma State beat Cal State L.A. in a semi-final match to reach the conference final and the Seawolves were the CCAA North Division champs.

 

The Golden Eagle men are making their third NCAA playoff appearance in the past four years. Cal State L.A. (17-3-1) reached the regional championship match in 2006 and 2008. The Golden Eagles will be facing a Cal State San Bernardino team that will be making its second NCAA appearance and first since 1995. The Coyotes are 15-5-1.

 

Cal State L.A.’s men are making their sixth appearance in the NCAA playoffs and third in four years. Prior to qualifying in 2006, the Golden Eagles hadn’t been in the NCAA playoffs since 1994.

 

The West Regional is part of a Super Region pairing with the Central Region. That region includes Fort Lewis, Colorado School of Mines, West Texas A&M and Midwestern State. The winner of the West and Central regions will meet in a national quarterfinal match next week.

 

(3) Sonoma State (14-4-4) vs. (2) Cal State Dominguez Hills (16-5-1), 4 p.m.

(4) Cal State San Bernardino (15-5-1) vs. (1) Cal State L.A. (17-3-1), 7 p.m.

 

Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 3 p.m.

 

(5) Dixie State (14-4) vs. (4) Cal State Dominguez Hills (13-8-1), Noon

 

Winner Game 1 vs. (1) Cal State L.A. (17-2-2), Noon