POMONA - Cal Poly Pomona out-shot its opponent for the ninth time in 10 games in 2021, but was forced to come away with a second consecutive scoreless draw for its home weekend, this time against Cal State East Bay, in California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) women's soccer action Sunday at Kellogg Stadium.
With the result, the Broncos move to 4-4-2 overall and 0-2-2 in the CCAA. Cal State East Bay is 6-2-2 overall and 3-0-1 in league play. The Pioneers, rated seventh in this week's United Soccer Coaches West Region poll, had begun the day with a share of first place in the early conference table as winners of their last three.
Cal Poly Pomona played its third overtime match of the year, all coming over its last four, including back-to-back at home this week.
The hosts produced the first scoring opportunity of the afternoon a little more than four minutes in, as
Allyssa Larkin got to the end line on the right side and crossed into the middle, where
Elise Garcia's shot was cleared away by a defender. Larkin then had a left-footed attempt of her own blocked away in the 13th minute from around the penalty spot. In the 25th minute,
Alyssa Carthan's header went high off the game's first corner kick by
Sydney Kallmann.
East Bay did not even generate its first shot until the 32nd minute, when Ana Herrera's try was blocked out for the Pioneers' initial corner kick, and off of that, fellow reserve Kylie Newman shot wide to the left.
CPP held a 6-2 edge in shots for the first 45 minutes, though none of the eight were on target, and the Broncos were not credited with one over the final 17:36.
Out of the break, Riley Spitzer whipped a left-footer from 20 yards just high of the crossbar for the visitors in the 58th. In the 70th, CSUEB had a headed goal off a corner kick disallowed due to a foul in the box.
Finally within a span of 1:27 with about 10 minutes remaining in regulation, each side manufactured its first shot on frame, as
Taylor Scott for the Broncos was denied by Jordan Smith, and then Payton Heaney for the Pioneers by
Sydney Williams.
Cal Poly Pomona came close to notching a pretty team goal in the 87th, as
Nicolle Villarreal niftily had a one-touch lay-off of a right-sided cross, but Scott's left-footed shot from 16 yards went wide of the left post.
The only overtime offense came in the first of two 10-minute extra periods from East Bay's Lexie Randolph, as the true freshman had a pair of long-range shots go wide and then get blocked by a defender.
Williams finished with two saves. The senior's second successive shutout gives her four this year. Smith, a junior, made the one stop for the visitors. She now has five clean sheets, including three in a row, and has not been scored upon for 355:11. Williams' streak stands at 220:00. The final shot margin was 12-6 in the Broncos' favor.
Cal Poly Pomona wraps up the three-game home stand on Thursday, Oct. 14, hosting area rival Cal State San Bernardino (2-7-1, 0-3-1 CCAA) for the second time this season. Kickoff at Kellogg Stadium is set for 4:30 p.m., with the men's teams concluding the doubleheader at 7 p.m. The Broncos blanked the Coyotes, 2-0, in the opener on Sept. 2.
All CCAA soccer contests throughout this 2021 season will stream live online free of charge via the CCAA Network at
www.ccaanetwork.com. Fans may also download the CCAA Network app on your iOS or Android smartphone, tablet, or through web streaming devices such as Amazon Fire, Roku or Apple TV. Admission is free for CPP students, staff and faculty.
Bronco Bits: Cal Poly Pomona is 39-31-14 (.548) overall and 21-18-13 (.529) in CCAA play under sixth-year head coach and 2019 CCAA Coach of the Year
Jay Mason ... CPP used its seventh different starting lineup of 2021 ...
Alyssa Carthan and
Taylor Scott each began their 31st consecutive games, with Scott now at 33 appearances in a row ...
Sydney Kallmann,
Allison Hung and
Lindsay Sung each returned to the pitch after missing their first game of the year Friday against Stanislaus State, with Sung starting and Hung and Kallmann coming off the bench in the first half ...
Sydney Williams now has 18 clean sheets for her career, moving her into sole possession of No. 3 on the all-time list ... Williams is an unbeaten 2-0-1 for her career against CSUEB ... CPP is 3-1-1 against the Pioneers with Mason at the helm (2-1-1 at home), and 15-6-4 in the all-time series (7-4-2 in Pomona) ... Most recently, the Broncos blanked CSUEB, 5-0, at home on Nov. 1, 2019, behind a Scott brace ... The Broncos had taken three straight meetings, and nine of the previous 10, heading into the day ... They are 10-1-2 over the last 13 with East Bay ... CPP is picked second and CSUEB seventh in the CCAA preseason coaches' poll.
