LOS ANGELES -- Cal State LA's men's soccer team saw a golden opportunity to take over sole possession of the California Collegiate Athletic Association lead slip away Friday night in University Stadium.
The Golden Eagles held a 3-1 lead well into the second half, but Cal State East Bay scored a pair of goals in the final 10 minutes to tie the match at 3-3. No. 3 Cal State LA (8-0-5, 3-0-4 CCAA) played its third consecutive tie and with 13 points now sits in a three-way tie with Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State Dominguez Hills atop the conference with four matches remaining.
Cal State East Bay (4-6-3, 3-2-2 CCAA) is tied for fifth place, just two points out of first.
The Golden Eagles got off to a fast start and had a 2-0 lead after 24 minutes, but the game turned dramatically in the 29th minute when the Pioneers drew a penalty kick and a Cal State LA player drew a red card, leaving the Golden Eagles a player down for the final 62 minutes of the game.
Cal State East Bay finally broke through in the 81st minute to make it 3-2 and got the game-tying goal just two minutes later.
Cal State LA allowed a penalty kick for the third straight game and also settled for a third straight tie.
Oscar Warne gave the Golden Eagles a 1-0 lead in the 22nd minute after receiving a beautiful long pass from
Andrew Portis and firing it inside the far post for his fourth goal of the season and the seventh of his career.
Cal State LA took a 2-0 lead in the 25th minute on a nice give-and-go between
Joel Green and Warne that resulted in Green's first goal of the season and Warne's second assist.Â
The Pioneers, though, got right back into the game when Alan Gutierrez knocked in his penalty-kick goal on a play that resulted in the Golden Eagles playing the rest of the game a player down.
Marlon Radel made it 3-1 when he was right in front to knock in a nice header from Portis for his first career goal.
Jacob Solek also got an assist.
Cal State LA was able to keep Cal State East Bay off the board until the Pioneers struck for a pair of goals late in the game. Landon Raftery scored his first goal of the year when he headed in a cross from Pablo Almontes in the 81st minute and Gutierrez got his second goal of the game when he headed in another cross from Almontes just two minutes later.
Cal State LA goalkeeper
Diego Bravo made a season-high seven saves in by far his busiest night of the season.
Cal State East Bay had a 17-6 edge in shots, including all 11 taken in the second half. The Pioneers also had an 8-4 advantage in corner kicks, including a 6-1 edge in the second half.
Cal State LA surrendered more than one goal for the first time this season.
Cal State LA will play its final regular-season home game on Sunday at 2 p.m. against Cal State San Marcos.
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