LOS ANGELES – Cal State L.A.'s women's soccer team remained unbeaten in California Collegiate Athletic Association play, but the Golden Eagles found themselves in a real battle Friday night.
 
The Golden Eagles got the only goal of the game on a successful penalty kick by Amalia Arvidsson in the 19^th minute and made it stand up for a 1-0 win over Cal State Monterey Bay at Jesse Owens Track. Cal State L.A. (10-1-1, 5-0 CCAA) kept its three-point lead over second-place Cal State Stanislaus and Sonoma State with the victory.
 
Cal State Monterey Bay (5-5, 2-3 CCAA) gave the Golden Eagles everything they could handle. The Otters made things difficult for the Golden Eagles, who were unable to maintain possession of the ball as much as they had in recent games.
 
The Golden Eagles, though, defended exceptionally well and had an answer for every Cal State Monterey Bay attack. Although the Otters had a 15-7 advantage in shots, including a 9-2 edge in the second half, the Golden Eagles did an admirable job of making sure most of the attempts were from a distance.
 
Yi Du made seven saves for the Golden Eagles and Cal State L.A. recorded its seventh shutout of the season. Lily Garza made one save for the Otters.
 
Cal State L.A. defenders Jackeline Lopez, Alicia Gutierrez, Danielle Telles and Justine Telles held strong for all 90 minutes and Norie Pablo, Krystal Kutscher and Heather Williams also played the full 90 minutes and helped keep the Otters off the board.
 
Du made the save of the game in the second half when she made a diving stop to thwart a strong bid by Regan Porteous. Du did a nice job of handling the Otters' long-range bids and well as making sure several crosses were kept out of danger.
 
Porteous had a strong match for the Otters and had a match-high four shots.
 
Joanna Espinoza had three shots for the Golden Eagles.
 
The only goal of the game came after Garza was given a yellow card after a foul outside of the goalmouth in the 19^th minute. Arvidsson took and was successful on her third penalty kick of the season and she also notched her team-leading seventh goal of the season.
 
The Golden Eagle defense took it from there and posted another well-earned shutout.
 
Cal State L.A. will return to action on Sunday with a home match against San Francisco State.