SAN BERNARDINO -- Cal State LA's women's soccer team successfully turned the page on Tuesday and recorded a big win in the California Collegiate Athletic Association Championship Tournament.
The Golden Eagles struck for two first-half goals and knocked off No. 3 seed Cal State San Bernardino, 2-0, in a first-round tournament match at Premier Soccer Field. Cal State LA (7-8-3) snapped a seven-match winless streak with the win and picked up its first road win of the season. No. 6 seed Cal State LA will advance to the tournament semi-finals to face No. 2 seed Sonoma State on Friday at Stanislaus State.
Marie Lou Larose scored just 10:01 into the match after a nice give-and-go with
Zarette Munoz-Aguilar to put the Golden Eagles ahead. Cal State LA made it 2-0 in the 39th minute when
Tatiana Zuvic headed in a corner kick from
Anahie Duran. The Golden Eagle defense took it from there and
Adriana Maldonado made a sensational save late in the game to preserve the shutout.
Cal State LA had a 20-5 advantage in shots and a 7-3 edge in corner kicks. Maldonado made three saves and Cal State San Bernardino goalkeeper Megan Vina made four saves.
"It was very important to get off to a good start," Larose said. "We came into this game wanting to leave everything on the field. We played pretty well today, we generated a lot of shots."
Larose scored her third goal of the season after a nice passing sequence in Cal State San Bernardino's end. Munoz-Aguilar sent a return pass to Larose, who split a pair of defenders in the box and sent a shot inside the far post.
"I was very excited to score the goal," Larose said. "I knew it was going in, I had a clear shot."
Zuvic made it 2-0 with a perfect header inside the far post. Duran sent a dangerous ball into the box and, after a slight deflection, Zuvic drilled a header into the back of the net for her first goal of the season.
Zuvic said she knew the ball was in the second she struck it.
"I didn't even see it hit the net; I knew it was going in so I started running back," Zuvic said. "As a team, I thought we played very well. We played compact and pressured everything. It was a good team performance."
Cal State LA played with an extra player after a red card issued to Cal State San Bernardino in the 34th minute. The Golden Eagles had a 14-3 edge in shots in the second half, including some outstanding opportunities for Duran, who had a match-high six shots. Munoz-Aguilar had four shots, Larose had three and Zuvic and
Jennifer Torres had two shots each.
Victoria Arredondo also had an effective outing and had one shot.
Cal State LA also got an outstanding defensive efforts from
Danya Hart,
Selena Cuara,
Blanca Adame,
Danielle Telles and Zuvic.