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Aleksandar Somov
Leroy Crook
Freshman Aleksandar Somov was one of six Broncos who produced multiple shots in Friday night's draw.
1
San Fran. St. SFU (0-4-3, 0-0-1)
1
Cal Poly Pomona CPP (5-1-2, 0-0-2)
San Fran. St. SFU
(0-4-3, 0-0-1)
1
Final
1
Cal Poly Pomona CPP
(5-1-2, 0-0-2)
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
San Fran. St. SFU 1 0 1
Cal Poly Pomona CPP 0 1 1

Game Recap: Men's Soccer | | Doga Gur, BroncoAthletics.com Contributor

No. 7 CPP Answers Early Gator Goal, but Furious Rally Only Results in Second Straight Draw in CCAA Opener

POMONA, Calif. - The No. 7 Cal Poly Pomona men's soccer team did everything it could to turn an early deficit into a come-from-behind win, but had to settle for a 1-1 tie with San Francisco State University in the 2024 California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) opener for both sides at Kellogg Stadium on Friday night.

With the result, CPP moves to 5-1-2 overall and 0-0-1 in the CCAA. San Francisco State is left still searching for its first victory of 2024 at 0-4-3 overall and 0-0-1 in league play. The Broncos and Gators were picked to place second and 12th, respectively, in the 12-team conference's preseason poll, with CPP garnering one first-place vote.

Cal Poly Pomona remains an unbeaten 2-0-3 in CCAA lid-lifters in the Matt O'Sullivan era.

The first shot of the night by either side came courtesy of junior Bronco striker Sam Lena just over three minutes in, but senior Gator goalkeeper Mario De La Torre made the save.

Then in the 13th minute, CPP conceded first for the second consecutive game, both times within the initial 20 minutes of the contest, as Isaac Sandoval found the bottom left of the frame. It was the senior forward's team-leading fourth goal of the season, with junior defender Angel Sevillano credited with his team-best second assist.

The next eight shot attempts over the remaining 32-plus minutes of the first half all came from the home side, with three of them on target to require De La Torre denials, though the Broncos still trailed at the break for the first time in this 2024 campaign.

The second half began with more of the same as Cal Poly Pomona continued to pelt the SF State goal in search of an equalizer. The first 10 shots of the period again came from the Broncos, only to see a 1-0 scoreline still favoring the visitors heading into the last 15 minutes.

Finally, at the 75:22 mark, the tying tally came. Following the Broncos' seventh corner kick of the evening, senior tri-captain and center back Fin Jackson bulged the back of the net for the second time in as many games. The unassisted marker gave him a sixth collegiate goal.

From there, CPP still managed five more shot attempts and three more corner kicks, but despite the best efforts of O'Sullivan's charges throughout 90 minutes, a victory was simply not to be on this night.

All told, Cal Poly Pomona out-shot SF State 16-0 after halftime and 25-2 for the game, taking the last 24 shots after surrendering the early goal. The 25 shots are a new single-game high around the conference this year, and the Broncos' most since totaling 29 in a 3-0 win at Regis on Sept. 10, 2023. CPP also generated a season-best 10 corner kicks.

Junior midfielder Woody Angell, named on Tuesday as the CCAA Offensive Player of the Week for the second time in as many seasons, produced a game- and career-high six shots. True junior forward Jakob Singh added a career-best five attempts off the CPP bench.

Fourth-year junior goalkeeper Luke Garciduenas did not make a save. De La Torre wound up with a season-high 10 stops to better his previous best as a Gator of nine saves from last fall. The haul also matched the CCAA's single-game season high for 2024, and fell one shy of SF State's single-game program record.


Up Next
Cal Poly Pomona remains at home to wrap up this opening weekend of CCAA play. The Broncos take on the Otters of Cal State Monterey Bay this Sunday, Oct. 6, with kickoff at Kellogg Stadium slated for 2 p.m. The contest caps a doubleheader with the undefeated (8-0, 1-0 CCAA) and third-ranked Bronco women (11:30 a.m.). All men's and women's soccer home matches feature a live video stream through FloSports.


Bronco Bits
  • CPP is 56-16-20 (.717) overall under sixth-year (fifth season) head coach Matt O'Sullivan, who on Sept. 22 took over the No. 1 position in the program record book for wins.
  • Junior center back Marcus Jorgensen was unable to go for the second game in a row, with Noah Ko and Joseph Spencer each drawing their second starts on the Bronco back line.
  • O'Sullivan has now used seven different starting lineups through these first eight games.
  • Luke Garciduenas, Daniel Gutierrez and tri-captains Fin Jackson and Jasper Winslow played the full 90 minutes.
  • Out of 720 minutes played this season, the Broncos have trailed for 95:10.
  • CPP is 22-7-6 against SF State all-time, with two straight shutout wins entering Friday and a still-unbeaten 7-0-2 mark (aggregate score of 24-5) over the last nine matchups since a 1-0 overtime road defeat on Oct. 25, 2015.
  • The Broncos are 13-3-3 against the Gators in Pomona and 3-0-2 under O'Sullivan (2-0-1 at home).
  • CPP had won five straight (16-2 aggregate) over SF State at home before Friday's draw, and is 8-0-2 over the last 10 matchups here since a 2-1 double-overtime loss in 2006.
  • CPP is 71-23-18 as a nationally-ranked program since 2002, including 33-10-17 under O'Sullivan and 5-1-2 in 2024.
  • The Broncos are ranked a season-best No. 7 nationally by the United Soccer Coaches for the second straight week, and are second in the West Region behind No. 2 Cal State LA.