George Plakorus assisted on CSUMB's first road goal of 2012, getting the helper on Julian Salas' second half score at Cal State L.A.
BOX SCORE LOS ANGELES — The Cal State Monterey Bay men's soccer team gave high–flying Cal State L.A. (6–2–0, 5–1–0 CCAA) all it could handle and them some, but the Otters just didn't have enough in the tanks on game four of their roadtrip as CSULA scored late to pull out a 2–1 win Sunday at Jesse Owens Stadium.
In perhaps their best road performance of the season, the Otters scored their first goal away from the Otter Sports Complex when
Julian Salas buried a feed from
George Plakorus early in the second half. But it just wasn't enough on this day.
The Otters opened up the more dangerous side, with
Troy Blank,
Servado Perez and
Aaron Kochman all launching scoring attempts in the first 17 minutes. The Golden Eagles broke through first, however, when Rosario Bras tucked his sixth goal of the season under the crossbar from just outside the 18 in the 29
th minute.
The early deficit did little to dissuade the Otter attack, however, and the equalizer came eight minutes after the restart. Plakorus threaded a cross between a pair of Golden Eagle defenders to Salas alone inside the penalty area. Salas' low shot beat Golden Eagle keeper Waleed Cassis for his first marker of 2012.
Although CSUMB kept the pressure on by out–shooting CSULA in the second half, it was Golden Eagle freshman Tyler Perez who claimed all three points for the home team by cleaning up a rebound from the doorstep in the 72
nd minute.
The Otters pressed forward in their attempts to tie, collecting the final four shots of the match. Their final chance game in the 90
th minute, but the Golden Eagle defense blocked
Juan Montellano's effort and CSULA ran out the clock.
CSUMB (0–6–0, 0–5–0) will conclude its five–match road trip Friday at Cal Poly Pomona. The Otters return home to face Cal State East Bay Sunday (Sept. 30) for an 11:30 a.m. kickoff.