SAN FRANCISCO – Despite holding San Francisco State to just four shots on goal Sunday, the Cal Poly Pomona men's soccer team failed to hold onto a halftime lead and ended up falling 2-1 to the Gators.
It marked the final road match of 2012 for the Broncos, who now hold marks of 3-9-3 overall and 1-9-3 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA). SFSU improves to 3-10-3 overall and 2-8-3 in league action.
As evident by the 1-1 draw on Sept. 30 between the same two squads, the Broncos and Gators proved to be evenly matched again Sunday with SFSU holding a slight 12-10 shot advantage at the end of the 90 minutes.
CPP got on the scoreboard first just as the first half was drawing to a close.
Kris Korich, continuing his trend of stellar play, initiated the scoring play with a quick dribble up the left side. He then sent a rolling cross into the box, where
Matt Boudreau met the ball and put a sliding shot past Gators' goalkeeper Anthony Rodriguez. It marked the first career score for Boudreau, who is in his debut soccer season at CPP.
Although the Broncos held the 1-0 edge at halftime, it didn't take the Gators long to net the equalizing score. In the 57th minute, Nathan Fernandez found Jason Borges with a pass to the right side at the front of the CPP 18-yard box. Borges headed the ball past Broncos' netminder
Anthony Iniguez to tie the score at 1-1.
At the 78:39 mark, SFSU struck for the eventual game winner when Kristian Fuentes knocked an unnassisted score. It marked the first goal of 2012 for Fuentes, a junior from Newark.
With about five minutes left in regulation, the Broncos got a tremendous chance to even the score at 2-2. After the ball bounced into the SFSU 18-yard box, CPP senior midfielder
Abraham Gomez rattled a shot off the crossbar that fell just in front of the goalline. A Gators' player then cleared the ball out of danger just in time.
With the away portion of the schedule completed, the Broncos will now return home to host Cal State Dominguez and Cal State L.A. in the final week of the season. Sunday's 11:30 a.m. home match against CSULA will feature CPP's "Senior Day" ceremonies.
