SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - Junior forward Alexis Macias' goal in the 61st minute lifted the Cal Poly Pomona women's soccer team to a 1-0 road win over area rival Cal State San Bernardino Thursday afternoon at Premier Field, and gave the Broncos their first California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) regular-season title outright.

With the narrow victory in its regular-season finale, CPP improves to 10-4-3 overall and 8-2-1 in the CCAA. The Broncos had previously clinched both a second straight CCAA Tournament berth, as well as a top-two seed and thus a first-round bye this Sunday, Nov. 5. They entered the final day tied at the top with Cal State San Marcos, which held the head-to-head tiebreaker for seeding purposes due to its 1-0 victory in Pomona last Sunday. Thursday's result in San Bernardino guaranteed CPP at least a share of the conference regular-season crown, with a 75th-minute Cal State East Bay penalty-kick goal securing a 2-2 draw for the host Pioneers against CSUSM in Hayward and giving CPP the championship outright. The Cougars will thus be the No. 2 seed.

CPP had won one CCAA Tournament banner in 1999, when they also topped the CCAA South Division back when the league used a divisional format, en route to being the national runner-up. More than two decades later, the Broncos are champions under head coach Jay Mason, having been picked to place fourth this fall in the preseason poll. Their previous best finish under the eighth-year leader was third in 2019.

Cal Poly Pomona will play the late CCAA Tournament semifinal next Friday night, Nov. 10, with kickoff at Cardinale Stadium on the campus of host Cal State Monterey Bay up north in Seaside slated for 7 p.m. on the CCAA Network. The Broncos will await Sunday's first-round winner in Turlock (12 p.m.) between No. 4 seed Stanislaus State and No. 5 seed Cal Poly Humboldt. The final on Sunday, Nov. 12, will have a 1 p.m. start in Seaside, with the champion again gaining automatic entry into the 2023 NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Championship.

The loss ended Cal State San Bernardino's postseason hopes, as it finishes the campaign at 8-6-4 overall and 5-3-3 in league play. Favored for ninth in the preseason, the Yotes wound up seventh, just outside of a tourney spot by a solitary point. They had entered Thursday an unbeaten 4-0-2 over their past six contests.

Macias' unassisted strike came at the 60:55 mark of the second half. The Broncos stole the ball at the edge of their own defensive third thanks largely to junior Auburn Burnett, and went on the counterattack. Senior midfield partner Julia Lucero sent a sensational, cutting ball down the right flank for a galloping Tara Oper. The junior forward's cross into the center near the six-yard box ended up slightly behind Macias, but the Yote defender made a mess of the clearance, giving Macias a second opportunity to shoot right-footed from a tight angle into the left side.

A Cudahy native, Macias spent the past two years at Rio Hondo College in Whittier, where she scored no fewer than 39 goals. That notable haul included 32 as a true freshman in 2021, when Macias garnered United Soccer Coaches Junior College Division II All-West Region Second Team distinction. Thursday's marker was her second of 2023 and first major college game-winner. Macias was making her third straight start and played a season-high 58 minutes in the contest.

Making her 17th consecutive start, fourth-year junior Bronco goalkeeper Bella Hara was credited with two saves to notch her sixth individual clean sheet of 2023 and ninth of her college career as a first-year Azusa Pacific transfer. Leila Peregrina, herself a first-year Mt. SAC transfer, had five stops in the Yotes' net.

CPP held an 11-7 advantage in shots taken. The hosts took the first three over the initial 17 minutes, with one a long free kick and two of them on target and saved by Hara. Macias registered the visitors' first attempt, that one a header that sailed over the frame in the 19th following an Oper corner kick from the right.

Arguably CSUSB's best opportunity at a goal came as halftime approached in the 36th minute. Nathaly Losada Lucumi produced a stellar individual effort and dribbled past a couple of Broncos upon entering the penalty box, only for her left-footed shot to be expertly parried wide of the right post by a diving Hara and out for a corner kick. It was given as a team save, instead of a stop for Hara.

CPP and CSUSB had played to a 1-1 draw in Pomona in a non-conference meeting between the two sides back on Sept. 23 ahead of their 11-game CCAA slates, with Bailey McNitt and Losada Lucumi trading second-half goals.

Bronco Bits: Cal Poly Pomona is 59-46-21 (.552) overall and 38-26-17 (.574) in CCAA play under eighth-year (seventh season) head coach Jay Mason ... The Broncos are 6-2 on the road in 2023, with five of their six shutouts coming away from home ... Mason made one change to his lineup from Sunday, with graduate student Phoëbe Amaro starting for fellow senior Nicolle Villarreal ... Graduate student Bridget Carbonneau drew her fifth start in a row ... Bella Anderson, Bella Hara and Auburn Burnett played the full 90 minutes ... CPP is 32-17-9 against CSUSB all-time in this series that goes back to 1990, and is an unbeaten 5-0-1 over the last six meetings since a 2-0 loss in San Bernardino on Sept. 19, 2018 ... The Broncos are 12-13-2 versus the Yotes in San Bernardino, and 6-2-1 under Mason (2-2 on the road with one-goal wins in back-to-back seasons).

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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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