Cal State LA’s men’s soccer team defeated California State University Dominguez Hills 2-1 at Premier Field in San Bernardino on Sunday, Nov. 6. 

The Golden Eagles have had an amazing season winning 15 out of the 19 games they have played this season. 

The Toros took an early lead behind a goal from Alpha Sow at the 18 minutes. The Golden Eagles scored two quick goals in the 2nd half of the game, coming from senior forward Daniel Garcia at the 44 minutes. The other goal was scored by junior defender Oliver Diaz in the 53 minutes.

Both of the teams couldn’t do much in the first half. The Toros dominated the game from the beginning with seven shots and four on target. The second half began with a lot of intensity from the Golden Eagles, putting pressure on the Toros, who were not able to score again in this game. 

Golden Eagles coach, Michael Erush, felt proud of the way the team fought back to get into the game, especially after suffering a tough defeat to Dominguez Hills on Sept. 25, which gave them their first loss of the season.

“That was an intense game, but it’s what I expected from a championship game,” Erush said. “We went out there a bit sloppy and struggled a bit. Similar to our game against them earlier in the season, we could not do much at all in attack. I remember they got a bit of space and scored early, which ended up being the winning goal in that game. I told the guys to just play with a sense of urgency, and it led to two goals to start the second half, which won us the title.” 

The Golden Eagles, the defending NCAA Division II champions, are now 15-1-3 on the season and will get a first-round bye and face the winner of either No. 8 Northwest Nazarene or No. 9  West Texas A&M University this upcoming Saturday at 6 p.m. The first round between Northwest Nazarene and West Texas A&M will be held on Thursday at 6 p.m., with both games being played at University Stadium.