LOS ANGELES -- Cal State LA's men's soccer team put the finishing touches on its second consecutive unbeaten conference season while claiming back-to-back California Collegiate Athletic Association regular-season championships.
In a battle between two nationally-ranked teams, the No. 8 Golden Eagles rallied from a goal down to beat the No. 24 Broncos on Thursday at University Stadium. Cal State LA (12-2-2, 10-0-1 CCAA) ran its conference unbeaten streak to 25 games, dating back to the 2018 season. The Golden Eagles claimed the eighth CCAA regular-season championship in program history and won back-to-back titles for the first time since 1980-81.
The Golden Eagles finished the conference regular season with 31 points for the second straight season, claiming the title by five points over the Broncos (11-3-3, 8-1-2 CCAA), who had an eight-game winning streak snapped. Cal Poly Pomona would have claimed the conference title with a victory on Thursday.
Cal State LA erased an early 1-0 deficit with goals by
Gonzalo Talavera and Aiden Wait in a 10-minute span of the first half. The Golden Eagles then let their outstanding defense and sensational goalkeeper
Alvaro Unanua do the rest, keeping the Broncos off the scoreboard in the second half while preserving the one-goal lead.
Cal Poly Pomona had a 17-10 advantage in shots for the game, including an 11-4 edge in the second half. Cal State LA had a 4-1 advantage in corner kicks.
Unanua made six saves and also snuffed out several potentially dangerous crosses into the box, while Cal Poly Pomona goalkeeper Jordan Aldama made five saves, including a pair of big stops on point-blank shots in the second half to keep the game at just a one-goal margin.
Paul Henschke gave the Broncos a 1-0 lead with his 12th goal of the season six minutes into the game. Christian Miramontes set him up with a cross that met Henschke right in front and the conference's leading goal scorer didn't miss to give his team the early lead.
It took awhile for the Golden Eagles to find their footing, but they began to generate some offense midway through the half. After a flurry in front,
Carl Solli bounced a shot off the crossbar and Talavera headed in the rebound for the tying goal in the 26th minute.
Just under 10 minutes later,
David Elizaga was fouled and Wait drilled a perfect free kick inside the near post in spectacular fashion.
Aldama made an outstanding save on a shot by
Gerard Hernando and
Manuel Garcia's rebound attempt just missed in the 81st minute and Unanua was steady with saves on Jerry Ramirez and Kraig Bonanken in the final five minutes.
Both teams have earned first-round byes for the CCAA Tournament, which begins for the other four qualifiers on Sunday. Cal Poly Pomona will face the winner of the Cal State San Bernardino-Chico State match on Friday at 4 p.m. and Cal State LA will host the winner of the Cal State Dominguez Hills-Sonoma State match on Friday at 7 p.m.
The semi-finals and finals are being hosted by Cal State LA for the first time.
