COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- Cal State LA's men's soccer team survived a bruising battle with Nova Southeastern Thursday and now finds itself in its second straight NCAA Division II Championship match.

The Golden Eagles, bloodied, battered and bruised, but certainly not deterred, took center stage during a dramatic penalty-kick shootout to advance past the Sharks after a 0-0 draw. Cal State LA (17-2-3) missed its first two penalty attempts in the shootout, but goalkeeper Alvaro Unanua made three consecutive amazing saves and Gerard Hernando, Gonzalo Talavera and Jeppe Paulsen calmly converted their tries to lift the Golden Eagles to a 3-1 win in the shootout.

Cal State LA, the No. 1 seed, advances to its second straight national title game, seeking the program's first-ever national title. The Golden Eagles will face No. 2 seed Charleston (W.V.), which also survived a shootout with No. 3 UIndy after a 1-1 draw.  Cal State LA fell to Charleston in the 2019 national title game.

To get there for a second straight season and for the third time in program history, the Golden Eagles relied on their sturdy defense yet again. Cal State LA, which was tied for No. 3 in the nation in goals against average entering Thursday's contest, posted its 12th shutout of the season and the Golden Eagles needed to because offensive chances were awfully hard to come by against the Sharks (17-3-3), the champions of Super Region 2 and winners of nine straight games before the semifinals.

The Golden Eagles were resilient in this one. After managing only two shots in a scoreless first half, the Golden Eagles began to find their footing about midway through the second half. Ryan Candelario had the best chance for the Golden Eagles and had a shot hit the crossbar from the top of the box with about 22 minutes remaining, while Carl Solli had a bid in traffic from just outside the box sail high.

The Sharks had the best chance in the first overtime period, but Unanua made a diving stop to deny Henrik Berg.

In the second overtime period, Nova Southeastern's Matty Cornish had a good look that went just wide in the 108th minute. Cal State LA had a pair of chances by Hernando in the second overtime period and David Elizaga got a header on frame with a second to spare that was saved by Sharks goalie Alberto Ciroi.

For the game, Nova Southeastern had a 19-10 advantage in shots and a 4-3 edge in corner kicks.

The game headed into the penalty shootout and the Golden Eagles definitely had to come overcome some big-time adversity to prevail. Cal State LA shot first and missed its first two attempts. Nova Southeastern made it first attempt and had a chance to go up, 2-0, but Unanua made a diving save to keep it at 1-0.

That seemed to lift the spirits of the Golden Eagles and when Hernando made his try, it was suddenly 1-1. Unanua then made his second diving save to keep it at 1-1 and when Talavera rifled in his try, Cal State LA had a 2-1 lead.

That set the stage for Unanua's third stop, which was an unbelievable kick save and just like that, Cal State LA had a chance to end it.

That's exactly what Paulsen did, burying his chance to send the Golden Eagles to the finals.