POMONA, Calif. – For the second time in as many seasons, the Cal Poly Pomona Broncos have won the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Championship Tournament. With a 2-0 win over Stanislaus State, the CPP men's soccer team has advanced to the NCAA Division II Tournament for just the second time in program history.
"We would like to thank our University, our Athletic Department, and the leadership we have for giving us the opportunity to play in front of our community," said head coach
Yossi Raz. "Each of us coaches has a different style of play and different methods, so we are glad that we were able to stick to our method of play against a quality team and come away with the win in front of our community."
Overall on the season, the Green and Gold have now recorded a 13-2-3 record, a tally that includes seven shutouts. The two wins for the CPP squad this week also improves their tally in the CCAA Tournament to 4-1 including two titles.
Not only does the win give the Broncos their second-consecutive CCAA tournament title, but it was also the second time in as many seasons that the Green and Gold have topped the Stanislaus State Warriors at that stage. Last season, the Broncos won in a shootout when they bested the Warriors 3-0.
In the 23rd minute of this Sunday's game, the Broncos scored their first goal as a shot from
Kris Korich was headed to the Warriors' goal. A member of the Stanislaus squad attempted to clear the shot with a header, but instead sent the shot into his goal to put the Green and Gold up 1-0.
After the halftime break, the Broncos secured their second goal in the match as team captain
Michael Torres posted his first goal of the season. A long breakaway from
Christian Gonzalez Diaz and a subsequent cross to Torres allowed the senior to take a shot that found the upper right hand corner of the Warriors' net.
"It's an incredible feeling," said Torres. "Going back-to-back is difficult in any setting, and this team, with the work that we have been putting in all year long, makes it amazing. Finally people get to see how great this program has been doing."
After the game was all said and done, the All-Tournament Team was announced. Earning spots for the Broncos were
Fernando Pablo Quevedo,
Michael Torres,
Aaron Macedo, and
Alexander Turkson. With stellar performances on the field, the tournament's Most Valuable Defensive Player was
Justyn Peeples. Earning the spot of Most Valuable Offensive Player was
Kris Korich.
On getting the Defensive Player of the Tournament, Peeples had this to say: "It felt great, but I have to give a lot of credit to my back line and my keeper, they do a lot of great work, it wasn't just me back there so I give a lot of credit to them."
The Broncos next will set their sights on the NCAA Division II West Regionals. The location, date and opponent for CPP's next match will be revealed during Monday's NCAA D-II Selection Show. The show will take place on Monday at 3:00 p.m. Pacific and will be hosted online at
NCAA.com/liveschedule.
