It’s that time of year to lace up the cleats as the Cal State LA men’s soccer prepares to defend their 2023 California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) tournament championship. The Golden Eagles are entering the season with high exceptions coming off back-to-back tournament championships, as the CCAA coach’s preseason poll has the Golden Eagles as the season favorites to win the conference. Under the leadership of Head Coach Michael Erush, the Golden Eagles obtained an impressive 18-1-3 record in the 2023 season and look forward to a great 2024 campaign.
Heading into this season opener, the Golden Eagles are ranked fifth in the nation according to the United Soccer Coaches preseason polls Challenges will be presented in the upcoming season as the Golden Eagles are determined to achieve their goals this season. As Coach Erush said, “ We have high goals and high expectations, and usually one of the goals, one of the many, is to win a couple more trophies.”
Four-peating the CCAA Championship will prove to be difficult as teams look to take that crown away, but the Golden Eagles are poised to face that challenge. Teams like Cal Poly Pomona, who ranked second in the preseason polls, will try to disrupt the chances of the Golden Eagles’ four-peat quest. The last encounter between these two ended well for the Golden Eagles as they defeated the Broncos in penalties to win the 2023 CCAA championship. Heading into this, the Golden Eagles lost players due to graduation, but new players come into the program committed to winning. With new faces coming to the program, the Golden Eagles are getting returners like Ryan Candelario, Tommaso Belli, Oscar Warne, Emil Kischka, and Ignacio Moreno, who are ready to win for their team.
Given the impressive 2023 season, Coach Erush, alongside his coaching staff consisting of Dallas Jaussi, Erick Lemus, Artur Jozkwicz, and Gustavo Gomez, were named by the United Soccer Coaches the 2023 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II West Region Coaching Staff of the Year. Coach Erush and his staff are committed to providing that same winning environment heading into the 2024 season.
“We are fortunate and blessed to have a very depth-oriented roster where we’re pretty deep in a lot of different positions, so we’re going to be very fortunate to rotate and get a lot of guys different minutes,” said Coach Erush.
Given the high expectations, the players will look to bring their unique strengths to the table. Excitement and anticipation will be up in the air throughout the season. Still, with their determination, the Golden Eagles are ready to soar through the season and make history by four-peating as CCAA tournament champions. The Golden Eagles’ quest will start on the road on Sept. 5, against Fresno Pacific at 7 pm in their first preseason matchup. The Golden Eagles’ home opener will take place Sept. 20 when they play Colorado School of Mines at 7 pm at the University Stadium. The regular season is set to kickoff Oct. 4 at Chico State at 4:30 p.m., and the regular season home opener will be on Oct. 11 at 4:30 against Sonoma State at the University Stadium.
The team encourages fans to come and support the team throughout the season.
This article was first published in the August 28 print edition of the University Times.
