POMONA - The Cal Poly Pomona women's soccer team and Cal State LA played to a scoreless draw in another important California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) contest at Kellogg Stadium on Thursday.
With the tie to round out a second three-match home stand for this 2023 season, CPP moves to 6-2-3 overall and 4-0-1 in the CCAA. The Broncos began the day in sole possession of first place in the table, and are a still-unbeaten 5-0-2 over their last seven. Cal State LA, the reigning CCAA Tournament champion, is now 5-1-5 overall and 2-0-3 in league play. The Golden Eagles are 4-0-4 over their last eight.
Following all of Thursday's results, Cal Poly Pomona remains atop the CCAA standings by itself, two points clear of Cal State San Marcos (6-2-3, 3-0-2 CCAA) in second, with Cal State LA alone in fifth.
CPP and Cal State LA were both receiving votes outside of this week's latest United Soccer Coaches Division II national top 25. They are fourth and sixth, respectively, in that organization's current West Region poll, with the Broncos up from ninth a week prior.
The first shot credited to either side came in the 10th minute, that to CPP's
Melanie Harradine, as she was first to the loose ball after fellow true junior forward
Jaclyn Cuevas pounced on a mistake by the Cal State LA goalie on a back pass. Harradine was making her first collegiate start after 37 appearances off the bench over her first two-plus years, with the right-footed attempt from the top of the box corralled by Taesja Paopao.
The visitors' first shot wasn't until the 21:28 mark when Shelby Melin's direct free kick from distance sailed well over the crossbar. A scoreless first half saw CPP hold edges of 3-1 in shots and 4-1 on corner kicks.
Cal State LA put its first attempt on target in the 63rd minute, with
Bella Hara going down to her right to parry away Jassmin Ortiz's right-footer, also from the top of the penalty area. The same duo came face-to-face again in the 71st, following a stellar through ball by Ortiz's teammate, but Hara came charging out to narrow the angle and made the kick save.
In between,
Tara Oper got to a loose ball ahead of Paopao, but was high of the mark with her right-footer from the right diagonal in the 70th.
CPP made one last push late for a winner. Cuevas put in a great right-footed cross from the left side of the 18-yard box, but
Alexis Macias' header from around six yards went right into Paopao's lap in the 87th. The game ended 0-0 moments later with the Broncos up 9-3 in shots.
Hara collected two saves for CPP to earn her fourth individual clean sheet of 2023 and seventh of her collegiate career. Paopao, a fellow junior also starting her 11th successive match, had three stops for the visitors for her sixth shutout.
The Broncos now head back on the road for a season-long three-match stretch and first take on another area rival in Cal State Dominguez Hills (1-9-2, 0-4-1 CCAA) this Sunday, Oct. 15. Kickoff on Field #3 at the Dignity Health Sports Park facility in Carson is set for 2:30 p.m., with the men's game following at 5 p.m.
Bronco Bits: Cal Poly Pomona is 55-44-21 (.546) overall and 34-24-17 (.567) in CCAA play under eighth-year (seventh season) head coach
Jay Mason ... The Broncos are 3-1-3 at home in 2023, with Thursday's shutout their first there ... Mason made one change to his starting 11 from the previous four games, beginning with true junior
Melanie Harradine up front for graduate student
Bailey McNitt ... Senior
Julia Lucero drew a seventh straight start and eighth as a Bronco ... True freshman
Mikaela Marr earned her sixth consecutive start ... Graduate student Phoëbe Amaro came on late in the first half after missing the first two games of this home stand ...
Bella Anderson,
Auburn Burnett,
Bella Hara,
Tara Oper and
Liberty Ortiz played the full 90 minutes ... CPP is 24-14-10 against Cal State LA all-time, but is a winless 0-3-2 over the past five meetings since a 4-2 home win on Sept. 25, 2021 ... The Broncos were kept scoreless while going 0-2-1 in three matchups a year ago, and have not tallied a goal against Cal State LA in 450:23 ... The Broncos are 13-4-8 versus the Golden Eagles in Pomona, and 3-4-4 under Mason (2-0-4 at home) ... CPP and Cal State LA were favored to place fourth and third, respectively, in the CCAA preseason poll.
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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.
Follow the Broncos all season long by going to
broncoathletics.com/followus and sign up to receive breaking news and final score updates throughout the year.
