POMONA - Cal Poly Pomona got a goal early and another one late to blank Biola University, 2-0, in non-conference women's soccer action Monday night at Kellogg Stadium.
With a second-straight victory for the first time this year, the Broncos round out their season-long four-match home stand, as well as the non-league slate, at 4-2. Biola, located in La Mirada, will head into Pacific West Conference play at 2-4-1, including 2-3 against California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) opposition.
It did not take long for CPP to hit the scoreboard, as junior
Cassie Snow slotted the rebound into the bottom right corner at 5:18 after freshman BU goalie Anna Boyer had turned away senior strike partner
Taylor Scott on the game's first shot attempt following the contest's initial corner kick. It was the first goal and first points of 2021 for Snow, while Scott was credited with her team-leading third assist.
The Eagles came close to equalizing in the 13th minute. Freshman forward Jazmin Montalvo retrieved a nice through ball up the center of the park and cut her defender to the inside, but
Clarissa Sanchez, starting for fellow senior
Sydney Williams, bounded out of her net to make the stellar save. Then in the 17th, Mason Stansberry could only find the top of the crossbar with her left foot from right outside the six-yard box, as the home side maintained its slim edge.
At halftime, it was 12-3 Broncos in shots, with a game-high four of those coming over the first 10:27 from the goal-scorer, Snow.
In the second half,
Emma Barrow's attempt in the 73rd minute blazed narrowly wide of the right post, as the graduate transfer wound up with four shots off the bench.
Nicolle Villarreal then had a score wiped out by an offside call at 83:00.
Finally at 87:25, Cal Poly Pomona grabbed its second, with a third spectacular goal over its last two times out. After a third successive
Lindsay Sung throw-in on the left sideline, Scott produced an incredible over-the-head flick to dispatch her defender in the corner and lifted a left-footed cross from the end line.
Gillian Ortin took a settling touch in the middle before managing an exquisite back-heel pass, and only 4:25 later, Villarreal would not be denied a first collegiate goal a second time, putting her one-timed, right-footed shot into the bottom left corner. It was a first career assist for fellow junior Ortin, while Scott thus came away with her first two-assist performance in the green and gold.
Meanwhile, Biola had nary a whiff of a scoring opportunity over the entirety of the second half, with only Halie Jamir's 63rd-minute effort blocked down around the edge of the penalty area without incident.
Sanchez made one save in her season debut and earned her second career individual shutout. Boyer had five stops for BU. The final shot tally was 20-4 in favor of the hosts.
Cal Poly Pomona kicks off its 11-game CCAA schedule this Friday afternoon, Oct. 1, up North in Rohnert Park against preseason league favorite Sonoma State (5-1), ranked 14th nationally and second in the West Region. The contest at Seawolf Soccer Field is set for a 12:30 p.m start. The Seawolves have outscored opponents 16-3 thus far in 2021.
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.
Bronco Bits: Cal Poly Pomona is now 39-29-12 (.563) overall under sixth-year head coach and 2019 CCAA Coach of the Year
Jay Mason ... The Broncos are 4-1 at home this season, with three shutouts ... CPP used a fourth different starting 11, with
Cassie Snow and
Nicolle Villarreal starting their second straight games for
Emma Barrow and
Allyssa Larkin, respectively, and
Clarissa Sanchez earning her first start of the year in goal in place of
Sydney Williams ... Williams had started each of the previous 21 matches, and missed her first game of 2021 ... Barrow and Larkin saw action off the bench after sitting out Saturday's win over Cal State LA ...
Alyssa Carthan and
Taylor Scott each began their 27th consecutive games, with Scott now at 29 appearances in a row ...
Clarissa Sanchez started for the first time since playing all 90 minutes of a 3-2 win over Northwest Nazarene in San Diego on Sept. 19, 2019 ... It was a first appearance for Sanchez since playing the last 20:26 of a 5-0 home romp against Cal State East Bay on Nov. 1, 2019 ... Snow's only other collegiate goal came in a 1-1 home draw with Cal State Dominguez Hills on Oct. 17, 2019 ... This was just the second-ever meeting between these programs, with the Broncos having also defeated the Eagles, 2-1, at home in the 2007 opener on Aug. 23, 2007 ... Cal Poly Pomona is favored for second in the CCAA's preseason poll, with BU picked fourth in the PacWest ... The Broncos thus played the teams listed second, third and fourth in the PacWest preseason poll during this year's non-league activity (going 2-1), after having been scheduled to begin the campaign against PacWest favorite Point Loma, only for that matchup to get wiped out due to COVID-19 concerns for the Sea Lions.
