PITTSBURGH, PA -- Cal State LA's unbeaten men's soccer team is now one step away from the program's first-ever national championship.
The No. 1 seeded Golden Eagles got a first-half goal from
Carl Solli to take control and added a pair of goals late in the second half for a 3-0 victory over No. 4 seed University of Indianapolis in the first of two semifinals at the NCAA Division II Championships Thursday at Highmark Stadium. Cal State LA (19-0-3) moves into the national championship game for the first time since 1981 and will face No. 2 seed Charleston on Saturday at noon (PST).
Cal State LA benefited from two players who are back flying on the pitch after battling through injuries earlier in the season.
Leonardo Nogueira set up both of Cal State LA's first two goals, while
Tim Klefisch added the final goal on a penalty kick to cap off a magnificent match. Klefisch finished with a game-high six shots and was a force all throughout his 84 minutes of playing time.
Daniel Simonis got the all-important second goal in the 81st minute and Klefisch scored in the 89th minute on a penalty kick drawn by
Jose Tovar.
Playing with the lead after the 21st minute, Cal State LA dug down defensively and the back-line of
Morten Bjoershol,
Antonio Rosas,
Jorge Orellana and
Jose Orellana was dominant against the Greyhounds. When called upon, Cal State LA goalkeeper
Alexander Brems was tremendous and made five saves. He recorded his 14th shutout of the season and now has a new program-record 28 in his two years with the program.
Cal State LA recorded its 15th shutout of the season and its goals-against average dipped to 0.35 and remains No. 2 in the nation.
Cal State LA had a 16-13 edge in shots over the University of Indianapolis, which was truly the Cinderella story of the tournament. The Greyhounds were the fourth-place finisher in their conference and won their Super Region despite being the No. 9 seed. Indianapolis (16-6-1) engaged in a real battle with the top-seeded Golden Eagles that wasn't fully decided until the latter stages of the match.
The Golden Eagles had a 7-2 edge in shots in the first half while building the 1-0 lead and had nine more shots in the second half, including a series of dangerous shots by Klefisch.
Cal State LA took a 1-0 lead in the 21st after a brilliant counter-attack that was dramatically started by Nogueira following a UIndy cornerkick. Nogueira exploded down the sideline in front of the benches and slid a perfect pass to an onrushing Solli in the middle of the box, just past a sliding UIndy defender. Solli displayed excellent patience as he got control of the ball and flicked it into the goal from point-blank range with UIndy goalkeeper Dimitrios Karousos closing in fast.
The goal was Solli's seventh goal of the season.
That was the only goal until the game opened up late in the contest. Another great play by Nogueira led to the goal. He fired a shot that Karousos made a great save to stop, but Simonis was first to the rebound and headed into an open net for his for his sixth goal of the season.
Tovar helped make it 3-0 when his strong excursion into the box drew a foul and a penalty kick, which Klefisch buried for his team-leading eighth goal of the season with just 1:29 left.
Cal State LA now advances to its first championship game since 1981 and will face Charleston in a battle of Golden Eagles.
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