LOS ANGELES -- Cal State LA's men's soccer team opened defense of its NCAA Division II Super Region 4 title with a hard-fought win over CSU Pueblo at University Stadium.
No. 1 seed Cal State LA (15-2-2) took a 2-0 lead early in the second half and weathered a determined ThunderWolves push to post a 2-1 victory in a second-round NCAA playoff match. The Golden Eagles got goals from
Gonzalo Talavera and
Jorge Orellana and five saves from
Alvaro Unanua to edge CSU Pueblo (15-6-2). The Thunderwolves were making their first NCAA appearance and earned a spot in Saturday's match after beating Seattle Pacific on Thursday.
The game featured two of the nation's top defenses. Cal State LA was No. 4 and CSU Pueblo was No. 6 in the nation in goals against average entering the second-round matchup and the tremendous battle certainly didn't disappoint. CSU Pueblo goalkeeper Garret Wild made seven saves, including a pair of sensational stops on shots by Cal State LA's
David Elizaga to keep his team within striking distance. Cal State LA's outstanding defense didn't give up much on Saturday and when it did, Alvaro was there to calm things down.
Both teams ended up with 12 shots in the game and CSU Pueblo had a 5-4 edge in corner kicks.
With the defenses dominating early, Talavera opened the scoring in the 40th minute.
Gerard Hernando sent a booming free kick into the box and Talavera leaped to head it in for his fifth goal of the year.
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The Golden Eagles started the second half quickly and made it 2-0 on Orellana's second goal of the season. Solli dribbled through traffic in the center of the field before passing to an onrushing Orellana, who rifled a shot from the left side of the box that rattled off the bottom of the crossbar and stayed in for the goal.
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CSU Pueblo made it 2-1 in the 73rd minute following a corner kick. A scrum of players battled for the ball, but Emil Joensson was the one who finally corralled it and found the net for his first goal of the season.
Cal State LA was able to keep CSU Pueblo from threatening down the stretch to run its unbeaten streak to 14.
Elizaga had a match-high four shots, while Talavera and Orellana had two each.
As the highest seed in Super Region 4, Cal State LA is on track to host the semifinals and finals pending the NCAA's official announcement. Game dates are expected to be Dec. 2 and 4.
No. 1 Cal State LA will advance to meet No. 4 Colorado Mesa in a Super Region 4 semifinal on Dec. 2 in University Stadium.
