POMONA - The Cal Poly Pomona women's soccer team got a pair of late goals from Tara Oper and Bailey McNitt and held on to edge Chico State, 2-1, in a critical California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) contest at Kellogg Stadium on Friday night.

In kicking off a second three-game home stand for 2023 with its third win in a row, CPP improves to 5-2-2 overall and a still-perfect 3-0 in the CCAA. The Broncos take over sole possession of first place in the table, pending Cal State LA's road game at Cal State East Bay later Friday night. Chico State drops to 6-3-1 overall and 1-1-1 in league play. Both sides had entered an unbeaten 3-0-1 over their previous four.

A slow start to this one offensively contained just one shot apiece over the opening 30 minutes. Bailey McNitt of CPP was first denied by Emma Hofmann in the 12th as the 'Cats goalie went down to her right, and then Chico State's Avery Pieri was wide of the target in the 16th. Bridget Carbonneau had her shot sail high of the frame at the 31:00 mark. Nicolle Villarreal was turned away by Hofmann in the 44th.

Bella Hara, named the CCAA Defensive Player of the Week for the first time on Tuesday, tipped Brynn Howard's right-footer from about 25 yards out for a corner kick in the very early stages of the second half, though the shot actually looked like it may be headed wide.

At 73:04, Cal Poly Pomona had its goal, and what a beautiful strike it was. Sophomore defender Liberty Ortiz took a couple of dribbles forward and lifted a ball from just inside her own half, down toward the end line on the left side. McNitt ran onto it and reached it just in time before it went out of bounds, needing a solitary touch to send a tremendous left-footed cross into the middle. That's where junior forward Tara Oper got just enough separation from her defender to put a solid first-timed header onto that cross from seven yards, into the bottom left corner beyond a diving Hofmann's reach. It was Oper's third goal of 2023, with first assists going to both McNitt and Ortiz.

Villarreal nearly doubled the lead in the 76th minute, with Hofmann having to leap up to tip her right-footer from 20 yards over the bar for a corner kick after a deep free kick from the right side had been cleared out by the Wildcat defense.

Just over two minutes later, at 77:58, it was indeed a 2-0 game. This time it was Oper to McNitt, as the former took a short pass and dribbled about 20 yards down the right flank past her defender. Hofmann got a hand to her cross from near the end line, but couldn't grasp it, leaving the ball free for McNitt to poke home from close range. McNitt is now second on the team chart with four goals, and Oper first with three assists.

Chico State pulled a goal back at 80:08 when Howard found the back of the net for the first time in 2023. The junior midfielder headed Klayre Barres' free kick from deep on the right from the left edge of the six-yard box, into the bottom right. The assist was Barres' team-best second.

Hara had one save in a ninth straight start in the CPP net. Hofmann, a fellow junior who like Hara came in with back-to-back clean sheets, had five stops for the visitors in her eighth start of 2023. The final shot tally was 12-6 in CPP's favor, with seven on goal to just two by Chico State.

The Broncos remain at home and host 2022 CCAA regular-season co-champion and preseason favorite Stanislaus State (4-4-2, 1-1-1 CCAA) this Sunday afternoon, Oct. 8. Kickoff at Kellogg Stadium is set for 11:30 a.m., with the men's game coming up right after at 2 p.m.

Bronco Bits: Cal Poly Pomona is 54-44-20 (.542) overall and 33-24-16 (.562) in CCAA play under eighth-year (seventh season) head coach Jay Mason ... The Broncos are 2-1-2 at home in 2023, and 4-0-3 in CCAA home openers with Mason in charge ... Mason started the same 11 for the third game in a row ... Senior Julia Lucero drew a fifth straight start and sixth as a Bronco ... True freshman Mikaela Marr earned her fourth consecutive start ... Marr, Bella Anderson, Bella Hara, Tara Oper and Liberty Ortiz played the full 90 minutes ... Nicolle Villarreal had a game- and career-best four shots, and matched her high of two shots on frame ... Bailey McNitt's ninth collegiate goal went down as her first of the game-winning variety ... Oper has seven assists as a collegian, while McNitt has 11 ... Ortiz's assist was the first of her career ... CPP is 14-19-6 against Chico State all-time going back to 1985, having entered Friday with back-to-back draws in the series (now an unbeaten 2-0-2 over last four) ... The Broncos are 5-9-3 versus the Wildcats in Pomona, and 3-2-2 under Mason (1-1-1 at home) ... CPP and Chico State were favored to place fourth and fifth, respectively, in the CCAA preseason poll ... The Wildcats and Broncos are 8-9 in Tuesday's latest United Soccer Coaches West Region poll ... CPP is an undefeated 5-0-3 in its last eight CCAA home openers going back to a 1-0 loss to No. 12 Cal State San Bernardino on Sept. 26, 2014.

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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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