POMONA – Cal State L.A.'s women's soccer team completed an unbeaten California Collegiate Athletic Association season on Thursday night, but the Golden Eagles probably feel as though their impressive regular season could have been even better.
 
The Golden Eagles had a 2-0 lead slip away in the last five minutes of regulation and had to settle for a 2-2 tie with Cal Poly Pomona at Kellogg Field. Cal State L.A. (14-1-3, 9-0-2 CCAA) had already clinched its first CCAA title since 2009 and its second championship in the program's history last week. Cal Poly Pomona (12-4-1, 7-3-1 CCAA) finished third in the regular season and will play in a first-round conference tournament game on Sunday.
 
Cal State L.A., ranked fifth in the country and No. 2 in the NCAA West Region, will now set its sights on the CCAA Championship Tournament. The Golden Eagles, by virtue of their regular-season championship, earned the tourney's No. 1 seed and a first-round bye. Cal State L.A. will begin play in a semi-final match on Friday, Nov. 7 at Cal State Stanislaus. The Golden Eagles stretched their unbeaten streak to 12 with the tie and are 9-0-3 over that stretch.
 
Cal State L.A. got a first-half goal from Krystal Kutscher and a second-half goal from Amalia Arvidsson and seemingly had the game in hand. The Golden Eagles had only allowed one goal in their first 10 conference games and had blanked Cal Poly Pomona until the Broncos suddenly broke loose.
 
The Broncos made it 2-1 on a free kick in the 86^th minute by Edith Dominguez and then tied it up with just 1:02 left in regulation on a goal by Ali Sauve.
 
The Golden Eagles then held steady in the two overtime periods and settled for the tie.
 
Cal State L.A. had a 13-11 advantage in shots and a 7-1 edge in corner kicks and had control of the game until the final few minutes.
 
Heather Williams had another strong match and had a game-high five shots, including one in the second half that hit the crossbar.
 
The Golden Eagles started quickly and had a strong first half. Kutscher scored the first goal of her Cal State L.A. career in the 12^th minute with assists from Justine Telles and Veronika Steen. An onrushing Kutscher blasted a low shot inside the near post for the goal.
 
The Golden Eagles had a 6-2 advantage in shots in the first half and prevented the Broncos from generating much offense. Cal Poly Pomona's best chance came in the 20^th minute when Rachel Killigrew took a shot that was tipped by Cal State L.A.'s Yi Du off the crossbar and out.
 
Cal State L.A. made it 2-0 in the 70^th minute when Arvidsson scored her 11^th goal of the season on a penalty kick. The Golden Eagles had allowed only one shot over the next several minutes before the Broncos struck for a goal off a free kick in the 86^th minute.
 
On their next shot, Cal State L.A. tied it up on Suave's goal.
 
Du was credited with one save for the Golden Eagles, while Ricki Ives had two saves for the Broncos.
 
Cal State L.A. will return to action next Friday in the CCAA Tournament.