ARCATA -- Cal State LA's men's soccer team made it 10 wins in a row with a big victory in the semifinals of the California Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament on Friday.
The Golden Eagles took an early lead on a goal by
Bryan Ortega and then added another in the second half on a goal by
Carson Nguyen in an impressive 2-0 win over No. 5 seed Cal State San Marcos at Cal Poly Humboldt's College Creek Field. No. 1 seed Cal State LA (16-1-1), the two-time defending tournament champions, will face No. 2 Cal Poly Pomona on Sunday in the CCAA Tournament championship match.
Cal State LA will be making its sixth consecutive trip to the conference title game and will be facing the Broncos for the fifth time during that span. The Golden Eagles have won four tournament titles in the past five years with the Broncos taking the other one.
The Golden Eagles took an early lead on Friday against Cal State San Marcos with a goal from Ortega, the team's leading scorer, just 7:35 into the game. CCAA Player of the Year
Oliver Diaz set up the goal after taking control of the ball in the Golden Eagles' half of the field and threading a pass to Ortega, who did the rest. He made a run through three defenders before making a great cutback move and firing into the net for his 10th goal of the season and 16th of his Cal State LA career.
Nguyen made it 2-0 in the 65th minute when he one-touched a nice pass into the box from
Simon Johansen for his second goal of the season. Johansen picked up his third assist of the season.
Julian Aadlandsvik made three saves for the Golden Eagles and picked up his 13th shutout of the season.
Cal State LA had a 10-4 advantage in shots in the first half and the two teams were even at 14 shots each at the end of the contest. Cal State San Marcos had a 3-1 edge in corner kicks.
Ortega had a game-high four shots for the Golden Eagles, while Nguyen had three.
Oscar Warne and
Tommaso Belli had two each.
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