POMONA - Visiting Cal State San Marcos' goal in the 19th minute was all the scoring Sunday afternoon at Kellogg Stadium as Cal Poly Pomona suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat in California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) women's soccer action.

A second 1-0 setback in the last three contests drops CPP to 9-4-3 overall and 7-2-1 in the CCAA. The Broncos had already secured a second straight CCAA Tournament berth after Friday's results. CSUSM improves to 9-2-5 overall and a still-unbeaten 6-0-4 in league play and 3-0-2 on the road. The Cougars, who are 6-0-5 over their last 11, thus join CPP in the CCAA tourney field, with the two sides now even atop the table at 22 points apiece, though CSUSM now owns the head-to-head tiebreaker going into Thursday's final day.

There still exists the possibility of a three-way tie for first, with Chico State currently in second at 19 points. The Broncos knocked off the Wildcats 2-1 at home, however, and the Cougars played them to a 0-0 road draw, so it would appear that CPP and CSUSM hold that tiebreaker advantage and have both clinched first-round byes straight into the CCAA Tournament semifinals on Friday, Nov. 10, in Seaside. Sunday did likely mark the Broncos' 2023 home finale.

The only goal of the match came unassisted courtesy of Emma Hord at the 18:16 mark. It was the junior defender's first of the season and first as a second-year Cougar. After a left-sided corner kick was seemingly cleared out of danger by the CPP defense, Hord whiffed on an initial attempt on the ball from the right flank near the edge of the center circle. Upon second effort, she lofted a hopeful right-footer from about 40 yards clearly as a pass back into the 18-yard box as opposed to an actual shot. The ball landed in CPP goalkeeper Bella Hara's arms, only to pop out and trickle across the goal line for an unfortunate tally.

Cal Poly Pomona's best opportunity to equalize the rest of the way was in the 71st minute, but senior midfielder Nicolle Villarreal's right-footed shot on the ground from the right side of the six-yard box was cleared off the line by a Cougar defender.

The home side wound up with a 9-8 edge in shots taken, notably allowing more than three attempts to an opponent for the first time in six games. There were only three shots on target over the 90 minutes, including the lone score, with Hara registering the only save of the contest in the fourth-year junior transfer's 16th straight start.

Fourth-year junior Allison Marcure for Cal State San Marcos was not required to make a save to register her CCAA-leading (tied) ninth individual clean sheet of 2023 to match her career-high total from 2022, and 26th as a collegian. The Rancho Palos Verdes native has started all 16 matches this year and 49 straight since beginning her college debut on the field on Sept. 5, 2021.

The Broncos travel to nearby rival Cal State San Bernardino to conclude the 2023 regular season this Thursday afternoon, Nov. 2. Kickoff at Premier Field is slated for 2 p.m., after the men's game at 11:30 a.m.

Bronco Bits: Cal Poly Pomona is 58-46-21 (.548) overall and 37-26-17 (.569) in CCAA play under eighth-year (seventh season) head coach Jay Mason ... The Broncos are 4-2-3 at home in 2023 ... Graduate student Bridget Carbonneau drew her fourth start in a row ... Junior forward Alexis Macias started for the second straight match, as did senior midfielder Nicolle Villarreal ... Bella Anderson, Bella Hara, Tara Oper, Liberty Ortiz and Giselle Samayoa all played the full 90 minutes ... CPP still leads this all-time series, 5-3-3, having won three straight ahead of Sunday's loss ... The Broncos are 1-1-3 versus the Cougars in Pomona, and 4-1-2 under Mason (1-1-2 at home) ... They were an unbeaten 4-0-2 against CSUSM over the previous six matchups since a 2-1 road loss on Sept. 20, 2015 ... Emma Hord's goal Sunday snapped a scoreless streak for CSUSM against CPP of 407:39 ... CPP and CSUSM were favored to place fourth and tied for sixth, 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.

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