TURLOCK -- Cal State LA's men's soccer team clinched a spot in the California Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament Friday night with a big road victory at Stanislaus State.
The Golden Eagles scored in the fourth minute and added three tallies in the second half to beat the Warriors, 4-0, at Warrior Stadium. No. 7 Cal State LA (11-1-3, 5-1-3 CCAA) took over sole possession of third place in the CCAA and is now just three points behind first-place Cal Poly Pomona and one point back of Cal State Dominguez Hills with two games remaining. The Golden Eagles wrapped up a spot in the conference tournament for the 11th straight season. The top six teams will qualify for the tournament and the top two seeds will earn first-round byes.
Cal State LA has won two straight regular-season CCAA titles and have won CCAA Tournament titles in three of the past four seasons.
Jeppe Paulsen,
Daniel Garcia,
Bryan Ortega and
Andrew Portis scored goals on Friday for the defending national champs, who had a 14-4 advantage in shots, including a 10-2 edge in the second half. Paulsen scored his goal in the fourth minute and Cal State LA put the game away with a three-goal spree in the second half. The Golden Eagles also had a 4-2 edge in corner kicks.
Alvaro Unanua made three saves in goal for the Golden Eagles to record the team's ninth shutout of the season.
Paulsen scored his third goal of the season to give the Golden Eagles the early lead.
Manuel Garcia and
Marlon Radel picked up assists on the goal. Garcia now shares the team lead with four assists.
Cal State LA made it 2-0 in the 56th minute when
Daniel Garcia scored his third goal of the season with an assist from
Oliver Diaz. Diaz now also has a team-high four assists.
Ortega notched his team-leading sixth goal of the season one minute later. It was an unassisted score.
Portis ended the scoring with his first career goal in the 65th minute. Paulsen picked up the assist, his second of the season.
Paulsen had three shots for the Golden Eagles, while
Daniel Garcia, Ortega and
Anton Olofsson had two shots each.
Cal State LA will return to action on Sunday at Cal State East Bay.
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