Box Score Cal State San Marcos is one game away from making its first-ever appearance at the NAIA Men's Soccer National Championship, thanks to a 3-0 win over Marygrove College (MI) at Friday's A.I.I. Conference Tournament in Thomasville, GA.
 
The top-seeded Cougars improve to 9-6-1 on the season.  Marygrove ends its year at 4-13-1.
 
With the second and third seeds – La Sierra and Thomas, respectively – playing a tightly-contested 2-1 contest that Thomas, the host school, eventually won, the Cougars took full advantage of a season spent earning that top seed, winning with relative ease on Friday.
 
Defender Eric Mueller opened the scoring 7 minutes in, banging home a rebound to put the Cougars up 1-0.  The assist went to Eric Lopez.  At the 25 minute mark, Sullivan Tobin made it 2-0 by knocking home a loose ball in the box.  And finally in the 38^th minute, Ryan VanDenburg put the match out of reach, receiving a pass from Jake Kaiser that put him in one on one with the keeper and finishing the chance.
 
CSUSM settled in and played defense in the second half, preserving the 3-0 victory.  The Cougars will take on Thomas tomorrow for the right to play in the NAIA National Championship.