Box Score
LOS ANGELES – Cal State L.A.'s men's soccer team responded in a big way to an early second-half deficit.
After falling behind Chico State in the 60th minute, the Golden Eagles got the equalizer three minutes later and the game-winner 13 minutes after that in a 2-1 California Collegiate Athletic Association victory Friday night. Cal State L.A. (8-0-1, 6-0-1 CCAA) maintained its six-point lead in the CCAA South Division, while knocking Chico State (6-2-2, 3-1-2 CCAA) out of the North Division lead.
Chico State's Evan Armstrong gave the Wildcats the lead early in the second half, but
Miguel Cucue's second goal of the season knotted things up in the 63
rd minute.
Kristian Gaustad then notched his second goal of the season on a beautiful score in the 76
th minute. The Golden Eagle defense took it from there and gave the Golden Eagles their second big victory of the week.
Cal State L.A., which is ranked third in the nation, was coming off a 1-0 win over Cal State Dominguez Hills on Wednesday.
Cal State L.A. outshot Chico State, 18-13. Michael Keohane made nine saves for the Wildcats and
Tobias Hummel made five saves for the Golden Eagles.
The Golden Eagles had a 10-4 shot advantage in the second half, while Chico State had a 7-6 edge in corner kicks. That edge was due in large part to a sequence of four consecutive corner kicks late in the first half when the Wildcats were threatening to take the lead.
After narrow misses by both teams in a scoreless first half, Chico State struck first in the second half. The goal was set up by a long throw-in by Ryan Nevarez that cleared a first group of players in the box and wound up near Armstrong, who promptly drilled it into the goal. The goal was his team-leading fourth of the season.
Cal State L.A. answered quickly less than three minutes later. A corner kick by
Chris Rangel started the action.
Brennen Brodersen got a head on it and
Mickey Daly was able to get it to Cucue, who knocked it into the left corner of the net.
The Golden Eagles almost took the lead in the 70
th minute on a corner by Gaustad, but
Erik Vargas had a shot hit the post and Keohane was able to pounce on it and keep it out.
The Golden Eagles eventually took the lead, though, on Gaustad's goal that found the left corner of the net.
Aza Gomez started the play with a free kick and
Federico Cino got the ball to Gaustad for the other assist. Gaustad's shot found the left corner of the net.
Both goalies came up big down the stretch to keep it a 2-1 game. Chris Akwaja had a point-blank blast that Hummel was able to deflect in the 83rd minute and Keohane made a diving deflection to thwart a scoring chance by Gomez in the 98th minute.
Cal State L.A. will return to action on Sunday with a home game against Cal State Stanislaus.
