POMONA - Cal Poly Pomona grabbed an early second-half lead but was unable to prevent an equalizer and had to settle for a 1-1 draw versus Cal State San Bernardino in a non-conference women's soccer matchup of California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) and area rivals on Saturday night at Kellogg Stadium.
With the tie, CPP moves to an even 2-2-2 overall and CSUSB to 2-3-1. Saturday's meeting did not count toward either team's CCAA record as they each concluded non-conference activity. Their league date will come on the final day of the regular season, on Thursday, Nov. 2, when kickoff at Premier Field in San Bernardino is slated for 2 p.m.
The visitors generated the first three shots of the contest, none on target, and first four corner kicks, over the initial eight and a half minutes of action before sophomore
Marisa Salazar was denied by Leila Peregrina on CPP's opening effort.
Jaclyn Cuevas, the Broncos' leading scorer, was also turned away twice by the Yotes' junior goalie and the home side ultimately held a 9-7 edge in shots following a scoreless first half.
Fourth-year junior
Bella Hara made two quick saves for CPP to begin the second 45 minutes, both against Rebeca Cruz Vivas.
Then at 52:17, the Broncos finally opened the scoring through graduate student
Bailey McNitt. Drawing her second start in the green and gold on the heels of a second collegiate two-goal brace just eight days prior, the University of North Dakota transfer found the back of the net for the third time this season and eighth as a collegian. Sophomore
Giselle Samayoa earned credit for her first college point through a first assist.
Cal Poly Pomona nearly doubled its advantage at the hour mark when
Tara Oper sent Cuevas galloping into the opposing penalty area on a deep through ball, but the junior forward's right-footed shot from the right edge of the six-yard box was just wide of the target.
Cal State San Bernardino leveled matters at 68:04. Rosalie Hawkins sent a long Bronco clearance right back into the danger zone, where Nathaly Losada Lucumi took one settling touch and sent a right-footed shot from six yards past Hara for her team-best third goal of 2023. It was a first major college assist for Hawkins, a first-year Chaffey College transfer.
CPP got a shot on goal from
Nicolle Villarreal in the 86th minute that Peregrina saved, and a close-range attempt from Cuevas that was blocked with seconds left, as no more goals were to be had in this one.
In her sixth straight start in goal for CPP, Hara had four saves. Peregrina, a first-year transfer from nearby Mt. SAC, collected four stops of her own in the Yotes' net. The final shot tally read 14-13 in favor of CSUSB, with five by each side going on frame.
Cal Poly Pomona begins its tough 11-match CCAA schedule with the longest road trip in the league. The Broncos are all the way up in Arcata on Friday, Sept. 29, to take on No. 21 Cal Poly Humboldt (6-0-1) at 3 p.m. on College Creek Field. The men's game is first at 12:30 p.m.
Bronco Bits: Cal Poly Pomona is 51-44-20 (.530) overall under eighth-year (seventh season) head coach
Jay Mason ... The Broncos are 1-1-2 at home in 2023 ... Senior
Julia Lucero drew a second straight start and third as a Bronco ... True freshman
Mikaela Marr earned her first collegiate start, in place of sophomore
Liberty Ortiz, who missed her first game of 2023 after playing all 450 minutes of the first five contests ...
Bailey McNitt started for the first time since the Aug. 31 opener with Westmont ... Marr,
Bella Anderson and
Bella Hara played the full 90 minutes ... CPP is 31-17-9 against CSUSB all-time in this series that goes back to 1990, with four consecutive wins preceding tonight's draw ... The Broncos are 20-4-7 versus the Yotes in Pomona, and 5-2-1 under Mason (4-0-1 at home) ... CPP and CSUSB were picked to finish fourth and ninth, 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.
