CARSON, Calif. – Midwestern State knows a little bit about home-field advantage as it ran through the 2008 with a perfect 10-0 mark at the MSU Soccer Field.

The No. 3 Mustangs got a taste of the flip side against No. 9 California State-Dominguez Hills in Saturday's NCAA Division II national quarterfinal as the Toros claimed a 2-1 result.

Dominguez Hills (19-2-4) claimed its 17th-straight victory at Toro Stadium and will advance to the NCAA Division II Championships on Dec. 5 and 7 in Tampa. The Toros will face the winner of tomorrow's quarterfinal between the University of Tampa and Tusculum University.

"It's hard to be on the road and play in front of a good crowd," MSU coach Doug Elder said. "They went through a 20-minute spurt in the second half where they really took it to us."

The Toros took advantage of a misclear in the third minute of the second half as Chris Perkins collected the ball near the top of the box and served a pass to Jordan Rover who one-touched the ball to Scott Mariano who beat MSU keeper with a one-timer.

"The conditions were really dense and foggy so it was a little slick. Swanny (Robert Swann) slipped and they got to it before Brannon could get to it," Elder said. "It was definitely a good finish."

Dominguez Hills tacked on a second goal on a counter in the 63rd minute when Rover once again hit Mariano breaking free on the left. Mariano shot a laser from just outside of the box to give the Toros a 2-0 lead.

The Mustangs, who placed seven of their 13 shots on goal, were unable to take advantage of a golden opportunity just 40 seconds before intermission. Junior Nick Auditore took a through ball and beat Dominguez Hills' goalkeeper Miguel Benitez to the far post, but the shot missed narrowly wide as the teams went scoreless into intermission.

"We did everything we needed to do in the first half," Elder said. "We held them without a shot on goal and had the better opportunities. I felt really bad for Nick because he usually buries those."

The Mustangs broke through in the 85th minute when Auditore notched his 12th goal of the season when he collected a long pass from center back Robert Swann. Auditore dribbled into the box and beat Benitez to the near post to cut the margin to 2-1.

Midwestern continued to put the pressure on the Toros, but Bentez came through with his sixth save of the match on a sprawling dive to snarl Craig Sutherland's drive from the top of the box in the 88th minute.

"We just couldn't miss the keeper and they cleared the ball off the line once. We just couldn't get it done," Elder said. "This one hurts, but you can't take away anything these boys have accomplished all season. It's frustrating."

The Mustangs close the season with a 19-3 mark after advancing to the NCAA Division II national semifinals last season.

Notables

- Midwestern State and California State-Dominguez Hills have now met on two occasions on the Toros' home pitch in Carson. Each of the matches has produced 2-1 outcomes in favor of CSU-DH.

- The Mustangs have advanced to the NCAA national quarterfinals on four occasions since the Doug Elder era began in 2000 and have posted a 0-3-1 record. MSU dropped a 3-0 decision at Sonoma State in 2003 before falling 3-1 to Chico State (Calif.) in 2004. Midwestern advanced past Sonoma State in penalty kicks in 2007 before falling at Dominguez Hills Saturday night.

- Midwestern State's 2-1 loss to California State-Dominguez Hills snaps an eight-match postseason undefeated stretch for the Mustangs dating back to the 3-1 setback in the 2003 NCAA II national quarterfinals to Chico State.

- Junior striker Nick Auditore's goal in the 95th minute extended his point-scoring streak to eight-straight matches. During the nine-match run, he scored eight goals and notched two assists. Auditore scored goals in seven of the contests during the run. He finishes the season with 12 goals and four assists.

- Midwestern State bids farewell to nine very important seniors who have played a pivotal role as MSU has advanced to the NCAA Division II postseason in each of the last three seasons. The seniors are: William Freeman, Shawn Carr, Rob Humphrey, Ahmad Ihmeidan, Nick Richter, Robert Swann, Brannon Calvert, Eddie Lett and Estevao Alexandre.