POMONA - In yet another top-tier battle between nationally-ranked squads for the No. 7 Cal Poly Pomona men's soccer program, the Broncos allowed an early goal and were unable to answer in falling to No. 12 Cal State LA, 1-0, in California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) action at Kellogg Stadium on Thursday night.

With its first loss of 2023, CPP falls to 7-1-3 overall and 3-1-1 in the CCAA. The Broncos were undefeated through 10 matches for the first time since 2014. Two-time reigning CCAA Tournament champion Cal State LA, now a winner of three straight since its lone defeat, improves to 9-1-1 overall and 4-1 in league play.

The teams started the day in sole possession of first place and in a two-way tie for second, respectively. After Thursday's action was complete, the Broncos had dropped from first to fourth, with the Golden Eagles now in a two-way tie with Cal State Monterey Bay for the top spot.

Cal State LA stole the ball around midfield and put together a strong counterattack about 11 minutes in, with Luke Garciduenas nicely parrying a left-footed shot by Oliver Diaz out for a corner kick.

The visitors then struck in the 16th minute. After a left-sided throw-in, the Golden Eagles crossed in from that left flank. A CPP defender popped the ball straight up with his head, with Cal State LA gaining a fortuitous bounce when it landed. Diaz pounced first and put his right-footed shot into the bottom left corner from eight yards away. The unassisted tally was the senior's third on the year and went down as a second successive first-half decider in a 1-0 road triumph for his side.

In the 19th minute, Fin Jackson got his head to a left-sided Melvyn Perez Cortez throw-in, but just narrowly missed the frame. Two minutes later, Max Laguna's effort was saved by the Cal State LA net-minder.

Following the halftime interval in the 59th minute, Kevin Hernandez had his right-footed shot from outside the area saved. In the 62nd off of a free kick, the ball was played back into the mixer, where Paul Roger Henschke looked just barely onside to put his foot on it, only for the attempt to go straight at the Cal State LA goalie.

With under 20 to go, Marcus Jorgensen's long-distance strike also went right at the keeper. The 73rd minute saw CPP sophomore Jakob Singh's header off of a right-sided cross go agonizingly wide of the left post.

The Broncos finished with a commanding 21-4 advantage in shots, including 9-1 in the second half, and held 62 percent of the possession, but simply could not conjure up the all-important goal.

Garciduenas finished with one save in his ninth start in the CPP goal this season and seventh in a row. The true junior gave way to senior CJ Walker at the 14:16 mark. Fourth-year Norwegian sophomore Julian Aadlandsvik, who has started all 11 contests and played every minute thus far in the visitors' net, had five stops for his eighth shutout of 2023 and third in a row.

The Broncos now head back out of Pomona for a second three-match road stretch for this season and first take on another fierce area rival in defending CCAA regular-season champion Cal State Dominguez Hills (4-4-3, 1-3-1 CCAA) this Sunday, Oct. 15. Kickoff on Field #3 at the Dignity Health Sports Park facility in Carson is slated for 5 p.m., after the women's contest at 2:30 p.m.

Bronco Bits: Cal Poly Pomona is 44-14-16 (.703) overall and 27-4-8 (.795) in CCAA play under fifth-year (fourth season) head coach Matt O'Sullivan ... The Broncos are 3-1-2 at home in 2023 ... Fin Jackson and first-year Louisville transfer Marcus Jorgensen drew their fifth and third straight starts, respectively, in central defense ... Outside back Jasper Winslow was back in the starting 11 after coming off the bench for the first time this season last Sunday against Stanislaus State ... Christian Miramontes was a first-half substitute after starting each of the first 10 matches ... Jorgensen, Winslow and Cesar Ruvalcaba played the full 90 minutes ... Before tonight, CPP had not been blanked in the first half since its season-opening scoreless home draw with Biola on Aug. 31, and had struck first in eight consecutive matches ... Cal State LA leads the all-time series, 36-22-7, now with six straight wins (last four via shutout) since a 1-0 Bronco home decision on Sept. 25, 2021, through an 11th-minute Paul Roger Henschke strike ... CPP has not scored against Cal State LA in 365:09 ... The Broncos are 14-14-5 against the Golden Eagles in Pomona and 1-7-1 under O'Sullivan (1-3 at home) ... The Broncos moved up in the United Soccer Coaches Division II national poll for the sixth consecutive week on Tuesday, two more spots from No. 9 to a season-best No. 7 ... CPP and Cal State LA are second and third, respectively, in the United Soccer Coaches West Region listing ... CPP is 59-21-14 as a nationally-ranked program since 2002, including 21-8-13 under O'Sullivan and 7-1-3 in 2023 … The Broncos are 23-37-12 against nationally-ranked opponents, also since 2002, 6-11-5 with O'Sullivan in charge, and 1-1-1 this season … CPP is the CCAA favorite, while Cal State LA was picked for second in the preseason poll, the teams combining for nine of 11 first-place votes.

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Home matches and CCAA away contests stream live online via the CCAA Network at www.ccaanetwork.com. Fans can also download the CCAA Network app on an iOS or Android smartphone or tablet, and through web streaming devices such as Amazon Fire, Roku and Apple TV. Subscribers have access to all CCAA broadcasts, both live and on-demand, for the low monthly price of $9.95. Over half of each monthly subscription purchase goes directly back to the CCAA athletics department of your choice to support the student-athlete experience. Sign-ups are available right now at each university's network portal. Just go to CCAAnetwork.com, select your favorite team at the top and click the 'Subscribe' button.

Tickets are on sale now for all CPP home matches. Fans are encouraged to purchase tickets online prior to coming to campus at broncoathletics.com/tickets, or by downloading the HomeTown Fan app on your smartphone or tablet. Again this year, only debit and credit cards will be accepted at the box office for admission. Limited concession items will be on sale on-site as well, with the concession stand also only accepting debit and credit cards.

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