Four goals help Golden Eagles advance
Box score
LOS ANGELES - No. 1 seed Cal State LA matched its season-high with four goals and it withstood multiple comeback attempts by No. 4 Cal State Dominguez Hills to earn the 4-2 victory in the semifinals of the CCAA Men's Soccer Tournament. (Nov. 12)
An own goal put the Golden Eagles ahead 1-0 just 11 minutes into the contest. The Toros found the equalizer from Josue Cartagena nine minutes later when he took a long pass from Alpha Sowe and beat his defender for the goal. That lead was short-lived as Talavera Gonzalo put Cal State LA back in front with his fourth goal of the year two minutes later.
The score remained 2-1 until the 70th minute when the two-time CCAA Defensive Player of the Year, Morten Bjoershol, rose above the crowd to head in his team-leading sixth goal of the season and extend the lead to 3-1.
The Golden Eagles saw how valuable Bjoershol's goal was three minutes later when Michael McKibbin stole a ball and finished at the near post to cut the lead in half (3-2). David Elizaga was able to add an insurance goal for Cal State LA in the 86th minute.
Dylan De Baldo made four saves for Cal State Dominguez Hills. Cal State LA's Alvaro Unanua, who was named the CCAA Goalkeeper of the Year earlier in the day, also had four saves.
With the win, Cal State LA (13-2-2) advances to the CCAA Men's Soccer Tournament title match for the fourth consecutive season. The Golden Eagles will face a familiar foe in the championship, No. 2 seed Cal Poly Pomona. This will be the fourth straight season these two teams have played for the CCAA Tournament Championship. The match will kickoff at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 14 in Los Angeles.
Cal State Dominguez Hills (10-6-1) will wait to see if it will be selected as an at-large bid to the 2021 NCAA Super-Region 4. The Toros were No. 12 in the latest rankings. They will find out their fate during the NCAA Selection Show on Monday, Nov. 15, at 3:30 p.m. Ten teams from the Super-Region 4 will be selected. Watch at
NCAA.com.