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LOS ANGELES -- Cal State LA's men's soccer team, which has won three of the past four California Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament championships, will try to take the first step toward reclaiming their title with a first-round match on Sunday at noon against Cal State East Bay.

The No. 3 seed Golden Eagles (8-3-6, 5-3-2 CCAA), ranked No. 24 in the nation and No. 4 in Wednesday's NCAA Super Region 4 rankings, will be meeting the No. 6 seed Pioneers (6-5-5, 4-2-4 CCAA) for the first time in tournament play.

The Pioneers won the regular-season meeting between the two teams, 3-2, in an entertaining match at the UCSF Health Oakland Roots and Soul Performance Center. Johnny Gonzalez scored for the Golden Eagles to tie the game at 1-1 in the first half and Andreas Christou converted on a penalty kick to tie the game at 2-2 in the second half, but the Pioneers got a second goal from Alejandro Zarate in the 74th minute to win it.

The final day was interesting around the conference as all six qualifiers had locked up spots and Cal State Dominguez Hills and Stanislaus State had clinched the top two spots in the first-round byes. Cal State East Bay started the day in a third-place tie with Cal State LA, but fell to Cal State Dominguez Hills, 1-0. The Golden Eagles, by virtue of their 2-2 tie with Cal State San Marcos, edged past the Pioneers into third.

Cal State San Bernardino, meanwhile, beat Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State San Marcos got the tie with Cal State LA, leaving the Coyotes, Cougars and Pioneers in a three-way tie for fourth, one point behind the Golden Eagles.

After tiebreakers, Cal State San Bernardino got the No. 4 seed, Cal State San Marcos got the No. 5 seed and Cal State East Bay got the No. 6 seed.

Cal State LA entered Thursday's regular-season finale at Cal State Dominguez Hills in a three-way tie for the conference lead, but fell out of the tie after a 3-0 loss to the Toros. That left Cal State Dominguez Hills and Cal Poly Pomona as co-champions and recipients of a first-round bye. The Golden Eagles slipped into a tie for third with Chico State and wound up as the No. 4 seed after a tiebreaker.

Cal State LA is making its 18th appearance in the conference tournament and its 14th straight. The Golden Eagles have reached the championship game in six out of the last seven seasons and have won tournament titles in three of the past four years and five of the past seven seasons (2023, 2022, 2021, 2018, 2017). Cal State LA has won seven times overall (2023, 2022, 2021, 2018, 2017, 2013, 2011).

The 18 appearances are second all-time, behind only the 21 appearances by Cal State Dominguez Hills and the seven tournament titles are second to the Toros' eight for the most among all conference programs.

Cal State LA will be involved in a first-round matchup for the second time since 2017 and the second straight. In 2017, the Golden Eagles won a wild 4-3 contest at Chico State and went onto win the conference title. Last season, Cal State LA hosted a first-round game for the first time since 2015 and beat Cal State Monterey Bay, 3-1. In 2015, the Golden Eagles beat UC San Diego, 3-1, as a No. 3 seed. This will be the Golden Eagles' fifth first-round game in tournament history.

Cal State LA will be facing Cal State East Bay for the first time in tournament play. The Pioneers made their first trip to the conference tourney last season and beat Chico State in the opening round before falling on penalty kicks in the semifinals.

The Golden Eagles enter the conference tournament with a No. 4 ranking in the most recent NCAA Super Region 4 poll. Cal State LA is seeking its 13th NCAA appearance in the last 14 years. 

The winner of Sunday's match will face No. 2 seed Stanislaus State in a semifinal match on Friday at 10:30 a.m. at Cal State Monterey Bay's Cardinale Stadium. The championship match will take place next Sunday at 11:30 a.m.