CARSON, Calif. – The Cal State Dominguez Hills men's soccer team had a one-goal lead at halftime but two early ones in the second half helped secure the fourth-seeded Toros a 3-1 win over No. 5 Colorado School of Mines in the second round of the NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Championship Saturday evening.
With the win, the Toros advance to the third round to play No. 8 Northwest Nazarene, which shocked Division II men's soccer by upsetting the Super Region 4's top seed and defending national champions Cal State LA 2-1 just northeast of the Dominguez Hills campus. The Toros and Nighthawks will meet at either Pueblo, Colorado or San Antonio, Texas, pending on Sunday's outcome between No. 2 St. Mary's and No. 7 Midwestern State.
On what would be considered to be a chilly night for Cal State Dominguez Hills at Toro Stadium, the Toros kicked off their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament in six years like they always have in the 2022 campaign. They waited patiently for the first goal, which came in the 21
st minute when
Sulaiman Bah slotted in a loose ball to the goal to put his name in the program's record book, breaking the single-season points record held by JC Bolanos and Alex Bengard from the 2000 national championship team.
After taking a 1-0 lead into the second half, the Toros got their eventual-match-winning goal 1:36 into the period.
Martin Velasquez sent the ball into the goal box where
Michael McKibbin got his left foot on it to ricochet into the net.
The insurance goal arrived in the 53
rd minute off a beauty from
Jesus Virgen. The tandem of Bah and his fellow Sierra Leone native
Alpha Sowe sent the ball back to the top of the box where Virgen fired a shot to the upper right corner of the goal out of Oredigger keeper Kenneth Symmes reach.
Colorado School of Mines, the RMAC champions, was held in check until 85
th minute, when Michael Sprauer slotted the ball to the bottom right. Toros keeper
Sebastian Ascencio made a diving effort but was a tad too late to counter the attack.
Although time was against them, the Orediggers upped the tempo to try and get the second goal, taking three shots in the remainder of the match, with two of them saved by Ascencio.
Dominguez Hills outshot Mines 18-14 overall, 6-4 on goal.
