LOS ANGELES – Cal State L.A.'s women's soccer team had its quickest start of the season and made it stand up in an important California Collegiate Athletic Association victory over Chico State.
 
Amalia Arvidsson had both Cal State L.A. goals in the first 12 minutes of the game and the Golden Eagles held on for a 2-1 win over the Wildcats on Sunday at Jesse Owens Track. Cal State L.A. (7-1-1, 2-0 CCAA) is one of only three teams to emerge from the first weekend of conference play with an unbeaten record.
 
Chico State (4-3-1, 1-1 CCAA) definitely made things interesting at the end. The Wildcats began to generate some pressure and pulled to within 2-1 with a goal from Cassi Scroggins in the 81^st minute after a mad scramble in front of the Golden Eagles goal.
 
With the wind at their backs, the Wildcats pushed for the equalizer, but Cal State L.A. permitted only one more shot and held on for the win.

It made for quite a weekend for Cal State L.A. head coach Isabelle Harvey. Sandwiched between big conference wins over UC San Diego on Friday and Chico State on Sunday, was her introduction at Saturday's USC football game along with other members of the upcoming USC Hall of Fame class.
 
Cal State L.A. had a 17-8 advantage in shots, including a 14-3 edge in the first half. The Golden Eagles also had a 4-1 edge in corner kicks.
 
Brianna Furner made eight saves in goal for the Wildcats, while Yi Du made two saves for the Golden Eagles.
 
Arvidsson, the Golden Eagles' leading scorer, scored just 3:20 into the game after heading a ball past Furner just inside the near post. Justine Telles and Heather Williams both had assists on the play and Arvidsson didn't miss from right in close.
 
Then, in the 12^th minute, Williams set up another scoring play, getting the ball to an onrushing Norie Pablo. As she was tumbling to the ground with a defender near the goal, Pablo was able to push the ball toward Arvidsson, who took a beautiful shot into an open net.
 
The Golden Eagles very nearly made it 3-0 in the first half when a hard shot by CaryAnn Parish was saved by Furner and Joanna Espinoza's rebound attempt from point-blank range hit the crossbar.
 
The score remained scoreless until the 81^st minute. Pooja Patel took a hard free kick that was saved by Du, but several players engaged in a scrum trying to get the rebound and Scroggins won the battle for her second goal of the season.
 
Williams had a major impact on the game for the Golden Eagles, taking a game-high five shots and making plays seemingly all over the field. Lindsey Dias was a dangerous threat for the Wildcats, taking two shots, including a blast during the second half that sailed just wide of the goal.
 
Cal State L.A. will return to action with road game at Cal State Dominguez Hills on Friday at 4:30 p.m.