2025 Cal State LA Men's Soccer – Season Summary

LOS ANGELES -- Cal State LA's men's soccer team added to some incredible streaks after another winning season in 2025.

The Golden Eagles were nationally recognized once again for their sustained excellence. Cal State LA was ranked as high as No. 2 in the nation during the season, earning a top-five spot in the national poll for a sixth consecutive season and cracking the top-10 for a seventh straight campaign. Cal State LA made an appearance in the national poll for the 20th consecutive season, a streak that started in 2005.

Cal State LA also had an individual All-American for a seventh straight season when Alex Mendez earned second-team All-America honors from the United Soccer Coaches. The Golden Eagles have had an All-American in 14 of the past 17 seasons dating back to 2008.

The Golden Eagles finished the 2025 season with an 8-4-7 overall record and are now 53-10-19 in four outstanding seasons since Michael Erush became head coach. Combined with the excellence of former head coach Chris Chamides, the Golden Eagles are now 71-12-22 over the past five seasons, 90-13-25 over the past six seasons and 105-15-25 over the past seven seasons. During that stretch, Cal State LA has won one national championship, two Super Region four titles, three California Collegiate Athletic Association regular-season and four CCAA Tournament titles.

The Golden Eagles have recorded 10 or more victories in 13 of the past 14 seasons and have now posted 19 straight winning seasons, a streak that started in 2006. The Golden Eagles have finished at .500 or above in 21 straight seasons, a streak that began in 2004.

Clearly, that's a lot of winning.

Cal State LA started the 2025 season with four consecutive shutouts - 2-0 wins over Fresno Pacific and Hawaii-Hilo, a 0-0 tie with Seattle Pacific and a 1-0 win over Western Washington.- and was 4-0-4 after eight games, including a 2-2 tie at Colorado School of Mines, a 1-1 tie at MSU Denver, a 0-0 non-conference tie at Cal State Dominguez Hills and a 1-0 conference-opening win at UC Merced.

The Golden Eagles saw their unbeaten streak come to an end in a narrow 2-1 loss at Stanislaus State when the Warriors scored in the latter stages of the match to break a 1-1 tie. Cal State LA rebounded with a 3-1 home win over Cal State Monterey Bay and a 3-0 home victory over Chico State, but an 0-2-1 stretch that included losses to Cal State East Bay and Cal State Dominguez Hills and a tie against Cal Poly Humboldt, dropped the Golden Eagles from conference title contention.

Cal State LA, though, finished the regular season well, showing off some late-game heroics to post wins over Cal State San Bernardino and Cal Poly Pomona and salvage a tie at Cal State San Marcos that secured the No. 3 seed for the CCAA Tournament. A goal by Johnny Gonzalez in the 85th minute gave the Golden Eagles a 3-2 home victory over Cal State San Bernardino and a penalty kick goal by Mendez in the 87th minute gave the Golden Eagles a 1-0 victory at Cal Poly Pomona.

The Golden Eagles then got another penalty kick goal from Mendez in the final minute for a 2-2 draw at Cal State San Marcos on the final day of the regular season.

Cal State LA made its 14th straight appearance in the CCAA Tournament, but fell short in a first-round game in University Stadium to No. 6 seed Cal State East Bay, 2-1. 

Cal State LA qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the eighth straight season and for the 13th time in the past 14 seasons, drawing the No. 7 seed in the Super Region 4. The Golden Eagles fell to Colorado Springs in penalty kicks after a 3-3 draw. The Golden Eagles were unable to hold an early 2-0 lead built on goals by Emil Kischka and Mendez, but got a second penalty kick from Kischka in the final minute to send the game into overtime.

Mendez and Erick Alamo led the Golden Eagles with five goals each, with Mendez leading in points with 12. Felix Alverdale, Emiliano Gutierrez and Angel Sandres shared the team lead in assists with three. Geovanni Antuna had two goals and two assists and led field players with 1,492 minutes played.

Brayden McClelland was strong in goal for the Golden Eagles in his freshman season, starting 16 games and appearing in 17 of Cal State LA's 19 games overall. 

Cal State LA Men's Soccer
2025 Overall Record: 8-4-7. CCAA Record: 5-3-2, 17 points
Final Regional Ranking: 7
Final National Ranking: NA
United Soccer Coaches All-America:Alex Mendez, 2nd team
United Soccer Coaches All-West Region: Alex Mendez, 1st team
All-CCAA: Alex Mendez, 2nd team; Geovanni Antuna, honorable mention; Erick Alamo, honorable mention
D2CIDA National Player of the Week: Erick Alamo (Oct. 6-12)
CCAA Player of the Week: Erick Alamo (Oct. 6-12), Brayden McClelland (Oct. 6-12)
2025 CSC Academic All-District: Leon Steffen, Angel Sevillano, Evan Yoell
2025 CCAA Fall Academic Honor Roll: TBA
2025-26 CCAA All-Academic: TBA
2025-26 D2 ADA Academic Achievement Award: TBA