PUEBLO, COLO. -- Cal State LA's men's soccer team saw its season come to an end Sunday in the third round of the NCAA playoffs at Colorado State Pueblo.

The No. 5 seed Golden Eagles surrendered a goal in the final seconds of the first half and never seemed to recover in a 3-0 loss to the No. 1 seed ThunderWolves at the Art & Lorraine Gonzales Stadium. Cal State LA (12-3-6) saw its season end at the hands of CSU Pueblo (16-3-3) for a second straight season. The ThunderWolves advanced past the Golden Eagles in the Super Region 4 championship match on penalty kicks in 2023 on their way to a second straight Super Region 4 championship.

In fact, Sunday's game was a matchup between the first four Super Region champions. Cal State LA won the first two, in 2019 and 2021 when the Golden Eagles won the program's first-ever national championship. CSU Pueblo, which has advanced to the national championship game in each of the past two seasons, captured the Super Region 4 championships in 2022 and 2023. The ThunderWolves will look for a third straight title next Saturday at home against No. 6 seed Fort Lewis.

After taking advantage of a fortuitous call with time running out in the first half, the ThunderWolves broke the game open with a pair of goals by Shjon Andrews less than two minutes apart in the final 20 minutes of the contest.

Cal State LA was unable to generate a shot in the second half, while CSU Pueblo enjoyed a 9-0 edge after the break. The ThunderWolves had a 15-6 advantage for the game and a 9-3 edge in corner kicks, including a 5-2 lead in the second half.

Both teams had good chances in the first half. Diego Bravo made the first big save of the game, when he made a diving deflection of a header from Andrews in the 17th minute. Bravo was able to get his fingertips on the bid just inside the far post. 

Cal State LA's Oscar Warne then had two outstanding chances within a three-minute span as Cal State LA began to find its footing. First, he sent a hard shot wide of the far post from an angle. Next, he was able to maneuver around a CSU Pueblo defender in the box and get off a shot that went off the crossbar and stayed out.

Roei Mordechay had a strong bid through traffic from inside the box saved by CSU goalkeeper Ryan Nun.

The game seemed to be headed for a scoreless first half when CSU Pueblo was awarded a throw-in with time running out. The center official, though, stopped the clock with nine seconds to go, allowing the ThunderWolves to set up for a final long throw and they executed with brilliantly with Dylan Zavatini heading in Ignatius De Mark's throw-in from point-blank range for the goal.

The Golden Eagles were unable to generate anything offensively, but stayed within striking range until the final 20 minutes;. Andrews made it 2-0 when he got free inside the box and headed in a free kick from Caio Oliveira. Then, after the Golden Eagles were unable to clear the ball away after a corner kick and ensuing battle for possession, Andrews headed in his second goal of the game to make it 3-0.

Cal State LA was making its 18th NCAA appearance and its 12th in the past 13 years. The Golden Eagles finished the season with a 12-3-6 record and are 45-6-12 over the past three seasons.