After the third consecutive scoreless tie between sixth seed Cal State Los Angeles and third seed Chico State, the Golden Eagles converted on all its shootout attempts while the Wildcats could not convert on three of its attempts, allowing Cal State LA to win the shootout 3-1 and advance to the second round of the NCAA Division II Women’s Soccer Championship.
With the victory, Cal State LA (13-5-3) will stay in and face second seed this Sunday, Nov. 11, beginning at 1 p.m. at Championship Field. , which won the shootout last week over the Golden Eagles to win the CCAA Tournament, finishes its season with a 13-5-3 record.
After the two teams traded goals in the first round of the shootout, Cal State LA goalie Reyna Coca stopped the attempts of Tracee Sterry and Ashley Gunther, while Erika Prado and Megan Stevenson scored for the Golden Eagles. Needing to score to keep the Wildcats alive, Abby Stretch beat Coca, but her shot bounced off first the left post and then the right one before rolling away, clinching the victory for
The first half was action-packed, as Cal State LA controlled the match early, forcing goalie Kari Gonzales to make four saves in the first 14 minutes. Gonzales made another key save late in the first half, as Prado’s shot with three minutes remaining floated towards the net, but Gonzales was able to tip the ball high enough to hit the crossbar and bounce away.
Neither team could get significant offense going in the second half and overtimes, as the two squads combined for only five total shots in the final 65 minutes of the match. After one shot by each team early in the second half, the next scoring chance did not come until there was 3:20 remaining in the second overtime, when a shot by Dana Menard was saved by Gonzales, who finished with seven saves. Sterry had a chance in the final minute, but Coca made her third save of the match.
The winner of Sunday’s Cal State LA/Seattle University match will face the winner of Saturday’s Cal State Dominguez Hills/Seattle Pacific match next week in the regional final.