Lucas Rosales is a senior attacker for the Golden Eagles men’s soccer team. He is from La Quinta, California, and previously played for College of the Desert, where he scored 18 goals and nine assists in his two years with the program. He attended Cal State Fullerton before transferring to Cal State LA. Rosales is majoring in liberal studies.

Rosales was born without the lower part of his left arm due to a rare disorder called Amniotic Band Constriction, but it never made him want to have any sort of different standard from everyone else on the field.

“It was something I was born with, even though my parents had no idea what it was,” he said. “It was out of my control, and I always think of it like this, ‘God never puts us through something we can’t handle.’ So, I had to learn, but I never wanted anybody to feel like I was at a disadvantage on the field.”

From a young age, he naturally gravitated to the sport that he would go on to have a passion for.

Rosales, who started at La Quinta High School as an outside midfielder in 2015, started to see multiple college offers.

Rosales has become a key player for the Cal State LA men’s soccer team, being a part of the team that won the 2021 NCAA   for the first time in Cal State LA men’s soccer history.

Every once in a while, an opposing player or coach will approach Lucas after a game and tell him what an amazing player he is despite the differences. Lucas doesn’t think he is special compared to others and doesn’t really understand the inspiration he is to others. He said he’s not sure he ever will.

Rosales has won many awards, including the 2021-2022 CCAA All-Academic honors and the 2021 CCAA Fall Academic Honor roll recognition.

“Especially with winning the NCAA Division II championship with Cal State LA last year, I don’t really look too much into the future,” Rosales said. “I am going to enjoy this season and take it day by day but one goal would be to win the championship again.”