NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Championship Bracket

The Stanislaus State men's soccer team is heading to the NCAA Division II Championship — and back to Pomona.

For the second time in program history, the Warriors have qualified for the 38-team NCAA postseason tournament. They are the No. 4 seed in the West and will return to Pomona to face No. 5 Cal State L.A. Pomona was the site of the CCAA conference tournament this past weekend where host Cal Poly Pomona claimed its second straight title over the Wariors on Sunday. 

Thursday's first round match versus Cal State L.A. (12-4-2) will be at 7 p.m. at Kellogg Field. The winner will face Cal Poly Pomona in the second round on Saturday at 7 p.m.

No. 2 seed Seattle Pacific has a first-round bye and will serve as host of one of the sites at Interbay Stadium. Teams traveling to Seattle are No. 6 Fresno Pacific (13-2-2) and No. 3 Cal State Dominguez Hills (13-2-3).

Stanislaus State (15-4-2) played conference foe Cal State L.A. on Oct. 29 in Turlock with the Golden Eagles winning 2-1 in overtime.

"We would have like to play somebody different and if you ask LA, they'd say the same thing," head coach Dana Taylor said. "But we are just thrilled to be in the NCAA tournament. It's going to be a great match, they are a great team and we will be ready."

Winners from each location will advance to a site to be determined. The highest remaining seed from the South Central region will host the third round on Nov. 19 or Nov. 20.

Stan State appeared in the 2012 tournament and won its first match in Hayward against Notre Dame de Namur, 3-2, before ending the year in a 2-1 tight match versus Simon Fraser.

Six current Warriors were part of that team and will carry the experience and leadership for this year's squad. Of the six NCAA-experienced Warriors — Josue Barajas, Gerardo Cazares, Daniel Kuczynski, Christian Madrigal, Jose Ramirez and Brady Taylor — five of them were freshmen with Kuzcynski a sophomore. Barajas, Cazares and Ramirez had spent a redshirt season in 2011.

"I am just so proud of the guys for making it this far," Taylor said. "For our seniors this will be their second time in four years they are in the NCAA tournament. This is a squad that's going to be prepared and is well-balanced. We are looking forward to the challenge.

Cal State LA is making its 11^th NCAA appearance in the program's history, its fifth straight and its eighth in the last 10 years. Cal State LA won the West Region title in 2011 and 2014 and reached the regional championship match in 2006, 2008 and 2009.

NCAA West Region Site 1 Tournament Central