BURNABY, British Columbia -- Jimmie Villalobos fired a 20-yard rocket off the left post and into the net to cut a deficit in half just before the intermission, but the No. 2-ranked Cal Poly Pomona men's soccer team would eventually fall, 3-1, to No. 13 Simon Fraser to open up the 2019 regular season Thursday night at Terry Fox Field in Burnaby, BC.
The Broncos fall to 0-1 to start the year while the Clan (1-0) pushes their home unbeaten streak to 33 games with the win.
The game would stay scoreless for the first 27 minutes until Simon Fraser's Matteo Polisi, the reigning West Region Player of the Year, dribbled in from the 18 yard line and pushed a shot past CPP keeper
Jordan Aldama for the 1-0 lead. Not even three minutes later, SFU's William Raphael corralled a ball that bounced off the crossbar twice as a result of a header attempt seconds earlier, and bicycled it into the back of the net for a 2-0 Clan lead.
With just two minutes to go before halftime, Villalobos' goal made it 2-1 in favor of Simon Fraser, but the Clan buried an all-important insurance goal in the 60th minute, and it would prove to be the difference.
While the amount of shot attempts on each side were relatively even (SFU led 12-10, and 4-3 in shot on goals), the Broncos had a significant advantage in corner kicks, recording 13 set pieces from the corner as opposed to just one for the Clan.
Aldama made one save in his Broncos debut while his counterpart, Aidan Bain, made two saves on the other end of the pitch for Simon Fraser.
Cal Poly Pomona will return to action Saturday morning at 11:30 am against Montana State Billings, also in Burnaby, BC.
