LOS ANGELES – Cal State LA's men's soccer team, the defending NCAA Division II champions and two-time defending Super Region 4 winners, has been ranked No. 2 in the NCAA Division II Super Region 4 poll released by the NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Committee on Wednesday.

The Golden Eagles won Super Region 4 championships in University Stadium in 2019 and 2021 on their way to national championship game appearances in both seasons. The Golden Eagles won the 2021 national title and were runners-up in 2019, both times facing Charleston (W.V.) in the title game.
 
The top-10 teams in four Super Regions will make the NCAA Tournament.

Cal State LA (12-1-3) is one of three California Collegiate Athletic Association teams ranked in the top-five of Super Region 4. Cal Poly Pomona (11-1-5) is ranked third and Cal State Dominguez Hills (12-0-5) is ranked fifth. Cal State LA will face Cal Poly Pomona on Thursday in Pomona in the CCAA regular-season finale.

St. Mary's of Texas (9-0-5) is ranked No. 1 in the region. Colorado-State Pueblo (14-3-1) follows Cal State LA and Cal Poly Pomona at No. 4, while Colorado School of Mines (12-4-2) is No. 6, one spot behind Cal State Dominguez Hills. Midwestern State (9-4-2), Western Washington (10-2-3), West Texas A&M (5-2-8), Simon Fraser (8-5), Northwest Nazarene (10-3-2) and UC-Colorado Springs (10-4-4) round out the 12 teams listed.
 
The poll determines the qualifiers for the NCAA Championships.
 
The five conferences in the Super Region 4 – the CCAA, Great Northwest Athletic Conference, the PacWest Conference, the Lone Star Conference and the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference – each receive an automatic bid. The CCAA's automatic bid goes to the winner of the conference tournament, which begins on Sunday at campus sites and will conclude next week in the semis and finals at Cal State San Bernardino.
 
The top six teams receive first-round byes with No. 7 facing No. 10 at the site of the No. 2 and No. 8 facing No. 9 at the site of the No. 1 seed as the first-round matchups. The top four seeds then host second-round games with the highest remaining seed after that round in line to host the next two rounds.
 
Cal State LA won the 2021 and 2019 Super Region championships and hosted the first two weeks of the playoffs each time. The Golden Eagles edged Colorado State-Pueblo, 2-1, Colorado Mesa, 2-1 in overtime and Cal Poly Pomona, 1-0, to advance to the national semifinals. In 2019, the Golden Eagles beat Midwestern State, 3-0, in a second-round match on the first week and then advanced past St. Mary's and Cal State San Bernardino to reach the NCAA semifinals.
 
Cal State LA also claimed NCAA West Region titles in 2011 and 2014.
 
The final poll will be released on Nov. 2 and the championship field will be announced on Monday, Nov. 7.
 
Cal State LA has some important business at hand before the final polls are released. On Thursday, at 2 p.m. the Golden Eagles will face Cal Poly Pomona with a shot at the conference title. Cal State LA, the two-time defending CCAA regular-season champions, needs a win and a loss or tie by Cal State Dominguez Hills at Cal State Monterey Bay to win a third straight title. Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State Dominguez Hills are tied for first entering the final day of the regular season with the Golden Eagles just one point back.
 
Cal State LA has clinched a spot in the conference tournament for a 11^th straight season.

With a win on Thursday, the Golden Eagles would clinch a first-round bye. If the Golden Eagles lose or tie, they would host a first-round tournament match at University Stadium on Sunday at a time to be determined.