LOS ANGELES – Cal State LA's men's soccer team got a first-half goal and made it stand up in a 1-0 California Collegiate Athletic Association victory over Stanislaus State on Sunday.
Steven Eberle scored his team-leading fourth goal of the season in the 25th minute and the Golden Eagles (3-0-3, 2-0 CCAA) won for the second time in three days. Steven Barrera made one diving save for his first shutout of the season and the Golden Eagle defense also stood strong to keep Stanislaus State (0-3-3, 0-2 CCAA) off the board. The game was quite a contrast from the wild 4-3 win the Golden Eagles posted on Friday against Cal State East Bay, but the end result was the same: three points in the conference standings.
Both teams finished with nine shots, each with six in the first and three in the second. Both teams also finished with two corner kicks, one in each half.
The only goal of the game came midway through the first half and it came on a quick strike. Antonio Rosas sent a long ball to Eberle, who was able to control it and blast a shot from outside the box into the upper corner of the net. Eberle scored goals in both Golden Eagle wins this weekend.
The Warriors put on some good pressure later in the half and very nearly tied the score. First, Josh Jacobs had a header cleared away at the last second and a resulting shot by Willie Gomez from inside the box was blocked.
Troy Dumlao then kept a shot by Matthew Waldron from going in about 40 seconds later and Barrera made a brilliant save on a shot by Sean Bender from in close.
Things settled down in the second half as both teams had difficulty generating offense against two of the strongest defenses in the conference.
Stanislaus State goalkeeper Tomas Zajfert made a pair of outstanding saves to keep the score at 1-0 late in the game. First, he made a diving effort to thwart a shot from Cal State LA's Shahin Hemat in the 73rd minute and he came out of his box to deflect a bid from Cal State LA's Eddie Leon, who had broken free and came in for a high-quality shot in the 85th minute.
Eberle had four shots for Cal State LA and Ihsan Kalkan had two in addition to playing an outstanding defensive game.
Cal State LA will return to action with a non-conference game at Cal State Dominguez Hills on Saturday in Carson.
