POMONA - In a non-conference showdown between previously-unbeaten and nationally-ranked area and California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) rivals, the No. 14 Cal Poly Pomona men's soccer program got a goal from All-American senior forward Paul Roger Henschke just 79 seconds in and made it hold up to down No. 21 Cal State San Bernardino, 1-0, at Kellogg Stadium on Saturday night.

The teams had entered sporting identical records, with CPP remaining undefeated at 4-0-2, and the Yotes dropping their first to fall to 3-1-2. The result did not count toward either squad's CCAA mark, with their league matchup set for an 11:30 a.m. kickoff on Thursday, Nov. 2, at Premier Field in San Bernardino. Just like Saturday's contest completed the non-conference slate for both the Broncos and Yotes, that November game will conclude the regular season for each.

Cal Poly Pomona jumped right on top at the 1:19 mark on the very first shot by either side. Senior All-American captain Cesar Ruvalcaba expertly held off a defender on his back near midfield before sending a stellar pass down the right flank. Mads Frederiksen sprinted onto it into the penalty box and produced a perfectly-weighted pass on the ground across the mouth of goal that Henschke only had to touch home at the far post from close range for his team-leading fourth. Frederiksen was given his first assist of 2023 on the sequence, while Ruvalcaba now has two assists in as many games.

Pretty much nothing else happened over the first 30 minutes, with the only other shot attempt credited to Frederiksen in the third, that one wide. The Yotes came close to equalizing in the 34th minute, but one try was saved by true junior goalkeeper Luke Garciduenas, and a rebound effort was blocked out for a corner kick. Shots were 3-3 at the break.

The Broncos generated two good opportunities to extend their lead in the early stages of the second stanza. First in the 47th, Frederiksen and Henschke almost played role reversal as this time it was the latter feeding the former after a nice run into the penalty area on the right side, but the sophomore Dane's shot was blocked out for a corner kick.

Then in the 55th minute, Fin Jackson got a flashing header from close range onto Max Laguna's left-sided corner kick, only for it to come off the crossbar and get cleared away from danger, leaving it a 1-0 edge.

CPP played the final 3:12 with a man advantage after the Yotes' Nicklaus Sullivan was shown a straight red card for a hard retaliatory foul on Woody Angell. An additional seven yellow-card cautions were awarded on the night, four to the hosts.

Garciduenas drew his fourth start of 2023 and second in a row for CPP, collecting one save to earn a third individual clean sheet this year and fourth for his career. In a third start in the Yotes' net for 2023, fourth-year sophomore and second-year San Diego State transfer Aidan Hanes had zero stops as the teams combined for two shots on target.

Final totals included a 12-6 shot advantage for CPP, which took six corner kicks to three by CSUSB.

Cal Poly Pomona next begins its grueling 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 Cal Poly Humboldt (3-2-1) at 12:30 p.m. on College Creek Field. The women's game follows at 3 p.m.

Bronco Bits: Cal Poly Pomona is 41-13-15 (.703) overall under fifth-year (fourth season) head coach Matt O'Sullivan ... The Broncos are 2-0-1 at home and have four shutouts thus far (two at home) in 2023 ... CPP's shutout streak is currently at 300:21 ... Luke Garciduenas and defenders Thomas Guei, Cesar Ruvalcaba and Jasper Winslow in front of him played the full 90 minutes ... Paul Roger Henschke now has 23 goals and 59 total points for his career, moving into a tie for fifth in the CPP record book in goals, while still in sole possession of sixth in points ... Henschke's goal was CPP's quickest of 2023 to begin a game, and fastest since current teammate Max Laguna's program-record 22 seconds from the 2022 NCAA Championship second-round match at No. 9 CSU Pueblo last Nov. 12, also assisted by Mads Frederiksen ... CPP has scored in the opening 10 minutes four times this season, including in three successive matches ... Frederiksen's first assist of the year gives him four for his Bronco career, while Ruvalcaba has five helpers in the green and gold ... True freshman Rocco Bon made his first appearance since starting in his college debut in the Aug. 31 opener with Biola ... CPP is 25-27-11 against CSUSB all-time in this series that goes back to 1984, including 14-12-8 in Pomona ... The Broncos are 4-1-1 against the Yotes under O'Sullivan (3-1 at home) ... The Broncos advanced one more spot from No. 15 to a season-best No. 14 in Tuesday's latest United Soccer Coaches Division II national poll, while CSUSB remained at No. 21 ... CPP is 56-20-13 as a nationally-ranked program since 2002, including 18-7-12 under O'Sullivan ... The Broncos are 23-36-11 against nationally-ranked opponents, also since 2002, and 6-10-4 with O'Sullivan in charge ... While CPP is the CCAA favorite, CSUSB was picked for seventh 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.

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