LOS ANGELES – Cal State L.A.’s men’s soccer team, coming off one of the most successful years in the program’s history, will open the 2010 season at home against Biola on Sept. 2 with a lot of new faces.
The Golden Eagles, whose 18 wins last season were the second-most in the program’s history, return only three starters and eight players overall and will be fortified by one of their largest recruiting classes in recent years. Cal State L.A. captured the California Collegiate Athletic Association South Division title in 2009, earned the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Division II West Region and hosted the first two rounds of the NCAA playoffs.
The Golden Eagles finished the season with an 18-4-1 overall record and a national ranking of 12.
Only the 1981 team, which went 20-3 and reached the NCAA Division II championship game, won more games in a season. Cal State L.A. has won 55 matches over the past four seasons, which is the best four-year stretch for the program since 1984.
The Golden Eagles beat Cal State San Bernardino, 5-3, in a wildly entertaining first-round NCAA playoff game in Los Angeles before falling to Cal State Dominguez Hills, 1-0, in a hard-fought regional championship match. Cal State L.A., which earned its first No. 1 national ranking during the regular season, reached the regional final for the third time in the past four years under 2009 CCAA Coach of the Year Chris Chamides.
Cal State L.A. will have a total of 10 home matches in 2010, beginning with the Sept. 2 season-opener against Biola that will begin at 4 p.m. The Golden Eagles will open CCAA competition on the road and won’t play their first home conference game until Sept. 17 against San Francisco State.
The Golden Eagles will face each South Division foe once at home with matches set for Friday, Oct. 8 at 4:30 p.m. against Cal State East Bay; Sunday, Oct. 10 at 11:30 a.m. against UC San Diego; Wednesday, Oct. 20 at 4:30 p.m. against Cal State Dominguez Hills; Friday, Oct. 29 at 4:30 p.m. against Cal State San Bernardino and Sunday, Oct. 31 at 11:30 a.m. against Cal Poly Pomona.
Cal State L.A. will host North Division opponents San Francisco State (Friday, Sept. 17 at 4:30 p.m.), Cal State Monterey Bay (Sunday, Sept. 19 at 11:30 a.m.), Sonoma State (Friday, Oct. 15 at 4:30 p.m.) and Humboldt State (Sunday, Oct. 17 at 11:30 a.m.).
Chamides, who earned his second conference Coach of the Year award in men’s soccer last season after guiding the Golden Eagles to a 13-2-1 conference record and an 18-4-1 mark overall, will welcome back four defenders with starting experience. Leading the list is senior Simon Volk, who earned All-CCAA second-team honors in 2009. Anton Gunnarsson, who is a two-time All-CCAA selection and was the conference Freshman of the Year in 2007, also returns for his senior season. Junior Brennan Brodersen, who started 21 matches in 2009 and senior Tony Hernandez, who started 20 matches last season, are also back.