LOS ANGELES -- Cal State LA's men's soccer team has advanced to the Super Region 4 championship match following a thrilling battle Thursday against St. Mary's.
The Golden Eagles advanced on penalty kicks, 5-3, after an entertaining 1-1 tie through regulation and two overtime periods.
Alexander Brems, who got things rolling in the Golden Eagles' second-round win over Midwestern State by stopping a penalty kick, made a key stop on St. Mary's first penalty kick on Thursday and all five Golden Eagle shooters scored to send Cal State LA to the national quarterfinals for the third time since 2011 and the first time since 2014.
Cal State LA will play a familiar foe on Saturday after Cal State San Bernardino's 2-1 win over Colorado School of Mines in the first game on Thursday. The Coyotes advanced with a two-goal rally in the second half to get past the Orediggers.
The Golden Eagles took a 1-0 lead in the 29th minute after a goal by
Carl Solli with assists from
Leonardo Nogueira and
David Elizaga. The play started with a steal by Elizaga and a pass to Nogueira, who found an onrushing Solli in full stride. Solli raced into the box and fired a shot to the near post for his sixth goal of the season.
That goal stood up until the 63rd minute when St. Mary's Carlos Blasco rifled a shot from well outside the box just inside the near post to even things up. It stunned a vocal crowd who urged on the Golden Eagles throughout the evening.
Cal State LA had plenty of close calls, but couldn't quite get a second goal. Nogueira had a pair of splendid chances go just wide in the first half, while
Robin Lindahl also had a pair of chances just miss, including a glorious opportunity in the first overtime period.
In the shootout, Cal State LA went first andÂ
Tim Klefisch knocked his in to make it 1-0. Then, after Brems made his big save on the Rattlers' first try,
Morten Bjoershol,
Carlos Zarate,
Carl Solli and
Jesper Evensen made their tries to send the Golden Eagles to the next round.
Cal State LA had a 21-11 advantage in shots, while both teams had seven corner kicks.
David Elizaga had seven shots to lead all players, while Solli had four and Nogueira finished with three.
Gerard Roebuck made 10 saves for St. Mary's (15-3-3), while Brems made his big save in the penalty-kick shootout.
Cal State LA will now play Cal State San Bernardino for the Super Region 4 championship on Saturday at 6 p.m.
Â
