WICHITA FALLS, Texas - The memorable and historic playoff run continues for Cal Poly Pomona men's soccer, now one of four programs moving on to the NCAA Division II Final Four.
Sunday's Elite Eight matchup featured the Broncos going up against Colorado School of Mines, an undefeated team holding the No. 8 national ranking. The two squads remained tied at 2-2 after 90 minutes and the game moved into overtime.
Just as they've done throughout their current winning streak of seven matches, the Broncos proved to be the heroes down the stretch. Five minutes and 42 seconds into the first overtime, senior
Aaron Macedo struck for the game-winning goal. After a cross from
Mathew Perez, Macedo lined a header from 10 yards out to the inside of the far post to wrap up the 3-2 win. It marked Macedo's second score of the season and third of his CPP career.
"I told Coach on the way over to this press conference," Macedo said, "I feel like I'm living a dream and I hope no one wakes me up from it."
This victory sets up a Dec. 3 Final Four showdown between CPP (16-2-3) and the Rockhurst Hawks (18-1-3). After capturing the Midwest Region title, Rockhurst advanced past Fort Hays State in penalty kicks on Sunday. The Hawks are ranked No. 5 nationally.
"We have a very hard working group," Broncos' head coach
Yossi Raz said. "Playing in the Final Four is a big responsibility but we're extremely excited and happy for it. It's a special opportunity to represent a lot of great people in our university community and all of the CPP alumni."
The Division II Final Four will be held at the University of West Florida Soccer Complex in Pensacola, Fla. The two semifinal matches on Dec. 3 will take place at 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. Pacific and then the D-II National Championship game will occur at 1 p.m. Pacific on Dec. 5.
For the Dec. 3 game, Cal Poly Pomona Athletics and Associated Students Inc. (ASI) are collaborating to host a
viewing party at the Bronco Student Center (BSC). Continue to check BroncoAthletics.com for updates on that event.
On Sunday in Texas, Colorado School of Mines jumped out to a 1-0 edge against the Broncos. With the clock reading 24:06, Richard Garvey knocked the ball past
Fernando Pablo Quevedo to put the Orediggers on the board.
Exactly eight minutes after the CSM goal,
Eshel Chardon sent a beautiful pass to
Christian Gonzalez Diaz in front of the Orediggers' goal and the senior from Mission Viejo collected his 13th goal of the season. The goal pulled the Green and Gold even and the score held out for the remainder of the first half.
Through much of the second half, the two squads proved their defensive worth as neither was able to get a goal past the opposition's defense in the early going.
With the game clock reading 76:25, the Green and Gold tallied their second goal of the matchup. With a tremendous pass from
Kris Korich,
Alexander Turkson was able to get a shot past the Orediggers' keeper to give CPP a 2-1 advantage.
Continuing the seesaw nature of the match, CSM netted the equalizer just minutes after Turkson's goal and that forced the 2-2 score as the game moved into overtime.
