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Heady Play From Piechota Sparks No. 15 Toros to 3-0 Win Over No. 21 Sonoma State in NCAA West Regional

Box Score
LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Sophomore Greg Piechota continued his torrid scoring streak with his sixth and seventh goals in his last four games, heading two throw-ins from Marco Pulido to lead the 15th-ranked Toros to a 3-0 win over arch-rival and  21st-ranked Sonoma State in the first NCAA West Region semifinal.

With the win, the third on the season over the Seawolves after a 2-0 regular season win and a 3-2 double overtime decision for the 2009 CCAA Title, the defending national champions earned the opportunity to defend its West Region title against 7th-ranked Cal State L.A., a 5-3 winner over CS San Bernardino in the second semifinal.

"It wasn't that easy," said head coach Joe Flanagan, about the third, and most convincing win over the Seawolves this year.  "We finished a couple of chances in the beginning that put the pressure on them and once we got the third goal, we kind of took the wind out of their sails.  But credit to them, they came out in the second half and definitely gave it all they had to try to get back into the game and we were lucky enough to make some defensive stops."

After Piechota's first score, Andrew Marinez followed with low line drive to make it 2-0 just 15 minutes into the half, collecting a blocked shot 8 yards from the Seawolf goal, and sending a rocket past a diving Johnson to double the score.

With just 5 minutes left in the half, the Piechota-Pulido combination again worked to perfection as a long throw-in from the left sideline found Piechota front and center, providing another header opportunity which he finished for a 3-0 lead at 39:40.

"Greg's been playing hard all season, and now those chances are going into the back of the net," said Flanagan, about Piechota's recent play.  "It's giving him more confidence and he's putting chances away, so hopefully we can continue this hot streak with him."

The two teams tied with 17 shot attempts each, exchanging 10-7 advantages in each half, with the Seawolves taking a huge 9-1 edge in corner kicks.  Piechota, whose hot streak has coincided with CSUDH's win streak, led the team in shots with six.

"Things are just starting to fall into place," said Piechota, obviously elated with the team's performance.  "We didn't necessarily play better than we did when we won the CCAA Title last week, but we were a lot more intense.  It's falling into place like last year, and we're playing our best at the end of the season, and we're coming together and playing as a team."

A physical match befitting two equally matched rivals, the Toros were whistled for 20 fouls to SSU's 10, while the Seawolves were issued 3 cautions compared to just 1 for CSUDH, a marked difference from the teams' last meeting five days ago in which 10 yellows and 1 red were issued to the two squads.

"It's going to be exciting, regardless of who we play," said Flanagan, about defending the Toros' NCAA West Region crown.  "We played a great game against San Bernardino last Friday, and we haven't seen CSULA it seems like for two seasons since we played them so long ago.  We're playing well right now, and are hitting our stride, so we'll be ready on Sunday."

CCAA Newcomer of the Year Markus Dickerson tallied 8 saves en route to his 10th shutout of the year as the Toros picked up their 11th-straight win.

The Toros, who improved to 17-5-1, will look to defend their NCAA West Region title on Sunday against the top-seeded Golden Eagles in a rematch of last year's NCAA West Region final in which the Toros blanked CSULA 4-0 in Carson.  This year, CSUDH was winless against the top-seeded Golden Eagles, forging a 1-1 tie on September 8, and falling 1-0 two weeks later.  First kick is set for 3:00 pm.
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