SEASIDE, Calif. - Twelfth-ranked Cal Poly Pomona used throw-ins to grab a 2-0 lead by halftime and held on to knock off No. 22 Cal State Monterey Bay, 3-1, in a California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) men's soccer match on Sunday afternoon at the Otter Sports Complex Soccer Stadium.

With the victory, CPP improves to 9-1-4 overall through 14 games for the second year in succession, 5-1-2 in the CCAA, and a still-undefeated 6-0-2 on the road. CSUMB falls to 9-3-3 overall, 5-2-1 in league play and 6-2-2 at home. The Otters were an unbeaten 3-0-1 over their previous four, including three straight shutouts, and a perfect 3-0 in their last three home dates.

CSUMB (16 points) and CPP (14 points) had entered the day in second and third place, respectively, in the conference standings, behind only No. 8 Cal State LA (6-1 CCAA, 18 points). The Broncos (33 goals) and Otters (31) also began the contest as the league's top two offenses.

Sunday's results flip-flopped the two teams in competition in Seaside, with the Broncos ascending into sole possession of second place. The Golden Eagles outlasted last-place Stanislaus State in Los Angeles, 3-2, to maintain their four-point cushion over CPP. The Broncos are on the verge of clinching a ninth consecutive trip to the CCAA Tournament, needing a solitary point from their final three outings.

The Otters got off to an active start on Sunday with the first four shots of the game over the first six-plus minutes. That included a tough right-footer from the right diagonal by Hugo Vargas-Rios that senior goalkeeper CJ Watson expertly went down to his right to parry away for the day's first corner kick.

Despite that opening, it was CPP on the scoreboard first, at the 13:53 mark. All-American Melvyn Perez Cortez provided his usual long throw-in from the right side, and CSUMB made the mistake of letting it bounce. It glanced off a defender, the goalie failed to come for it, and junior center back Fin Jackson pounced with a right-footed toe poke into the upper right for the 1-0 edge. It was Jackson's first goal of 2023 and fourth in three years as a Bronco.

Walker made another difficult save from Roberto Banegas' right-footed blast in the 25th, and less than three minutes later at 27:27, it was 2-0. Fourth-year junior outside back Jasper Winslow notched his third goal of the weekend on this Northern California trip, giving him four for the year. Once again the Broncos used Perez Cortez as a stopped-ball weapon, as the graduate student unbelievably one-hopped a 30-plus-yard throw-in from the right. Winslow picked it up around the circle on the offensive side, dribbled forward about 20 yards, and uncorked a 25-yard right-footed rocket from 25 yards into the upper right, leaving the CSUMB net-minder with no chance. This time, Perez Cortez was given credit for his second assist of 2023 and 11th in the green and gold.

Coming out of the halftime break, CSUMB pulled one back at the 55:07 mark through Janos Kömmerling. The German midfielder played a short corner kick from the left side to fellow junior Alexis Sanchez, who passed it right back to him. The first-timed, right-footed shot from outside the left edge of the 18 squirted through Walker's hands and into the right-side netting to make it a 2-1 game. It was Kömmerling's team-best sixth on the year and Sanchez's team-high-tying fourth assist.

CSUMB nearly equalized in the 63rd, but Walker made the nice kick save to deny Miguel Guerrero.

Cal Poly Pomona clinched the all-important three points through its captain, Cesar Ruvalcaba, at 79:21. Ruvalcaba stole a pass in his own half and sprinted forward while fellow senior All-American Paul Roger Henschke corralled the ball and dribbled ahead. The native of Berlin, Germany, finally slipped a delicate through ball into the penalty box for Ruvalcaba, who was pure with his right-footed shot into the bottom right corner for his very first collegiate goal. The assist was Henschke's league-best eighth.

Walker came up with a second kick save on Vargas-Rios in the 82nd. Starting for the third game in a row and third time for 2023, he finished with a season-high five saves. Fourth-year sophomore Jack Blickenstaff had three stops for the home side in 81:49. Matthias Milton took over for 8:11 of the first half and got his hands to one save.

The Broncos return to Pomona for one final weekend of home action for the 2023 regular season, first welcoming Cal State East Bay (7-5-3, 2-4-2 CCAA) into Kellogg Stadium this Friday, Oct. 27. Kickoff is slated for 4:30 p.m., with the women's contest at 7 p.m.

Bronco Bits: Cal Poly Pomona is 46-14-17 (.708) overall and 29-4-9 (.798) in CCAA play under fifth-year (fourth season) head coach Matt O'Sullivan ... First-year Louisville transfer Marcus Jorgensen drew his sixth straight start in central defense ... Junior midfielder Max Laguna was back in the starting 11 after coming off the bench for the first time this season on Friday ... CJ Walker's start was his 20th as a collegian ... Mads Frederiksen came off the bench for the first time in 2023, leaving Paul Roger Henschke as the only Bronco to start all 14 matches thus far ... Jakob Singh earned his first collegiate start in place of Frederiksen up top, while fellow true sophomore Sam Lena drew his second collegiate start after Friday ... Jorgensen, Walker, Fin Jackson, Cesar Ruvalcaba and Jasper Winslow played the full 90 minutes ... Of CPP's 14 games in 2023, it has scored first in 11 (shut out twice) ... The Broncos' first goal Sunday snapped CSUMB's shutout streak at 304:51 ... Henschke has 26 goals, 16 assists and 68 total points for his career, remaining in a two-way tie for fourth in the CPP record book in goals and sole possession of fourth in points, while moving into sole possession of seventh in assists ... Winslow now has two game-winning goals in 2023 and for his career ... CPP has largely dominated this series with a 14-3-2 record all-time against CSUMB since 2004, including nine straight victories since a 3-1 home setback on Oct. 25, 2013 ... The Broncos are 7-1-1 against the Otters in Seaside (6-0-1 over last seven there with six wins in a row since 2-1 loss on Oct. 14, 2007) and 4-0 under O'Sullivan (2-0 on the road) ... The Broncos dropped in the United Soccer Coaches Division II national poll for the first time this season on Tuesday after moving up in six consecutive editions to start the year, going from a season-best No. 7 down to No. 12 ... CPP fell from second to third in the United Soccer Coaches West Region listing, with CSUMB right behind in fourth ... CPP is 61-21-15 as a nationally-ranked program since 2002, including 23-8-14 under O'Sullivan and 9-1-4 in 2023 ... The Broncos are 24-37-12 against nationally-ranked opponents, also since 2002, 7-11-5 with O'Sullivan in charge, and 2-1-1 this season ... CPP is the CCAA favorite, while CSUMB was picked for fourth in the 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.

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