Carson, CA -- Senior midfielder Kyle Holland played the game of his life in the biggest game of his career thus far, scoring his first career hat trick as the 9th-ranked and top-seeded Toros disposed of a pesky Notre Dame de Namur squad in the first round of the NCAA D-II Far West Region 3-0.  With the win, CSUDH advances to Saturday's final against Cal State L.A., which advanced in a 5-4 penalty kick decision over Sonoma State earlier.

The hosts dominated early, tallying a 10-2 shot advantage in the first half.  Scoreless twenty minutes into the contest, Holland began his career night by taking a Brian Alvarez through ball and flicking it by Argonaut keeper Sheldon Steenhuis for a 1-0 lead.

That's where the game remained until the 62nd minute when Holland retrieved a loose ball 18 yards from the NDNU net, and sent a low line drive past reserve goalie David Mehberg near side to double the score.

Less than 10 minutes later, Holland single-handedly provided his own encore by bending a 20-yard free kick to the right of Mehberg, capping the scoring and sending the Toros to the Far West Title game on Saturday against their cross-town rival.

The Toros tallied a commanding 22-6 shot advantage, and secured 5 corners to NDNU's 2.  CSUDH keeper Miguel Benitez was credited with two saves on his birthday, while 18 of the 22 members of the playoff roster saw some playing time.

Cal State L.A. and CSUDH split their two regular season meetings by identical 1-0 scores, with each school winning at home.  This time, the 2008 Far West Division crown is on the line, with the winner advancing to the NCAA Quarterfinals, with the opponent and the location to be determined.

Cal State L.A. 1, Sonoma State 1, CSULA advances 5-4 on PKs.

In the earlier Far West semifinal, Cal State L.A.'s men's soccer team picked an opportune time to advance past one of its recent nemesis.

The Golden Eagles battled Sonoma State to a 1-1 tie through regulation and two overtime periods in an NCAA Division II West Region semi-final contest and then prevailed on penalty kicks, 5-4, Thursday at Cal State Dominguez Hills.

No. 18 Cal State L.A. (13-4-4) and No. 6 Sonoma State (18-2-4) will officially be credited with a tie, but the result certainly felt like a victory for the No. 3 seeded Golden Eagles.

Cal State L.A. will advance to the regional championship game for the second time in the past three seasons as the Golden Eagles dethroned Sonoma State, which was the defending regional champion. The Seawolves, the No. 2 seed, won the CCAA Championship last week.

The Golden Eagles had lost their last six meetings with the Seawolves, including a 2-1 decision in a first-round CCAA Championship Tournament match last Friday at UC San Diego and a 2-0 decision earlier this season in Rohnert Park. The contest Thursday had a different feel to it, though, and the Golden Eagles stood toe-to-toe with the Seawolves throughout.

Cal State L.A. had a 19-11 edge in shots, including a 10-3 advantage in the first half. The Golden Eagles had a 7-6 edge in corner kicks, although both defenses did an outstanding job of limiting prime scoring opportunities. The Golden Eagles had only six shots on goal, while the Seawolves only had one.

Cal State L.A.'s Tobias Hummel made six saves, including a sensational stop late in the second overtime period. Sonoma State's Brook Johnson made five saves.

The game was a physical and spirited one and there were six yellow cards issued to players and a red card given to a Sonoma State assistant coach. Cal State L.A. had 27 fouls, while Sonoma State was whistled for 22.

The Golden Eagles had the best flurry of the game in the first half when they had three quick shots in front of the Sonoma State goal. Julian Lopez had the first attempt that hit the left post, Aza Gomez got to the rebound and hit shot was blocked by a Sonoma State defender in front of the goal and Mickey Daly had the final attempt, but Sonoma State goalie Johnson made a diving save to keep the game scoreless.

There was a lot of end-to-end action in the second half, but neither team scored until an intense period right before the end of regulation. Cal State L.A. had a player hauled down in the penalty box and Franco connected on the penalty kick to give the Golden Eagles a 1-0 lead with just 1:34 remaining.

Sonoma State, though, came right back and got the equalizer. Ross Middlemiss and Eric Lafon had the assists and Cam Vickers got the tying goal with a shot from inside the box that was drilled inside the right post just 24 seconds later.

In the ensuing celebration, a Sonoma State assistant coach was issued a red card and ejected from the contest.

The teams headed into the first overtime period, which was relatively uneventful. In the second overtime, the Golden Eagles had three corner kicks, but could not convert one into a goal. Sonoma State had the best chance in the second overtime period, but Hummel made a diving deflection to deny Sonoma State's Vickers of a potential game-winning goal in the final minute.

In the shootout, Hummel again came up huge. First, he made a dive to deflect the first SSU attempt by Middlemiss just by the left post . Then, as Cal State L.A.'s first kicker, he made the attempt to give the Golden Eagles the lead. Aza Gomez, Kristian Gaustad, Kyle Hewitt and Franco all made their attempts to give the Golden Eagles the 5-4 decision, and a ticket to the Far West Finals.