Interview with Kirsten Coleman and Karli Nestler: [Watch]

GOLDEN, Colo. — The Warriors are the Best of the West. They are now also one of the top eight teams in NCAA Division II.

Kirsten Coleman scored both Warrior goals as Cal State Stanislaus defeated Cal Poly Pomona Friday at CSM Soccer Stadium in the third round of the NCAA tournament to win the West Region Championship.

Coleman finished a blocked shot by Tina Benson in the first half and beat the Broncos goalkeeper and walked in her second score to lift the Warriors. Cal State Stanislaus will now face host, and South Central Region winner, Colorado School of Mines on Sunday at 1 p.m. MST in the national quarterfinal round.

"We are exactly where we expected ourselves to be this season. There is nobody on our team that is surprised by this success. We may have taken the road less traveled to become West Region champions but we always knew we had the ability to do it," said Warriors head coach Gabriel Bolton.

The Warriors' awesome postseason run continues as they have now won all three NCAA tournament games as the No. 4 seed. Cal Poly Pomona was seeded No. 3. Cal State Stanislaus has also now won five straight matches en route to the program's first regional title a week after winning its first NCAA tournament game.

In a rematch contest against a familiar California Collegiate Athletic Association foe, the Warriors avenged the regular season 1-0 loss in Pomona back on Oct. 12.

Coleman gave the Warriors a 1-0 lead in the 13th minute after collecting a blocked shot taken by Tina Benson. Coleman easily knocked in it from around the penalty line for the lead.

"Our team was very confident that if we could play Cal Poly (Pomona) on a normal sized field we had the skill and pace to come out on top," Bolton added. "The effort and performance in all phases of the game by our team was exceptional today."

The Warriors ended up out-shooting Cal Poly Pomona, 8-2 on goal and 11-8 overall.

In the second half, the Warriors offense picked up intensity as did the Broncos. But it was Coleman again finding the back of the net to put the team up 2-0. Maryssa McDuffy sent a long pass from the far backfield over everyone where Coleman beat three defenders. She then got Pomona goalkeeper Ricki Ives to come out and juked her to easily walk-in the score in the 50th minute.

"Our team counter attacks with incredible pace and power. Kirsten was in absolute beast mode out there tonight," Bolton said about the Coleman goals. "The composure to take their goalkeeper on and finish with the second goal was sensational."

The defensive unit again was outstanding in limiting opponents chances as the defenders and goalkeeper Chelsea Lewandowski recorded their 11th shoutout on the season. The Warriors have now blanked opponents in four of the last five matches and second straight in this postseason.

Lewandowski ended up needing to save just two shots to earn the win in goal.

"The team once again was very well organize defensively and really executed the game plan perfectly. We pressed Cal Poly in the right spots and closed the spaces making it hard for them to penetrate," said Bolton.

The Warriors continue to rack up victories on the road as they are now 25-3-4 in the last 32 matches dating back to 2011.

Last week, the Warriors won twice on the road in Bellingham, Wash., including ending the top seed and host Western Washington's season. They will have the opportunity to accomplish a similar feat again on Sunday, against the top seed in the South Central Region and host Colorado School of Mines. The Orediggers, ranked No. 7 in the NSCAA poll, edged Texas A&M Commerce by advancing on penalty kicks on Friday.