POMONA, Calif. - The No. 10 Cal Poly Pomona men's soccer team produced 10 shots on target en route to cruising past visiting Metropolitan State University of Denver, 2-0, in non-conference action under the Kellogg Stadium lights on Friday night.

With a third 2-0 triumph through four contests, CPP improves to 3-1 just past the midway point now of its seven-match non-league slate. The Broncos were picked to finish second by California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) head coaches in their preseason poll. MSU Denver drops to 1-3-1. The Roadrunners, favored for a tie for seventh in the 11-team Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC), remain in California to play another top-10 CCAA opponent in third-ranked Cal State LA on Sunday.

The programs were meeting for the first time in nearly three decades, since a 2-1 neutral-site victory for the Roadrunners in Bakersfield on Sept. 5, 1997. They had faced off just once before in Pomona, all the way back on Sept. 26, 1987, with the Broncos grabbing their only other win in the series by the final score of 4-1.

Cal Poly Pomona opened the scoring at the 12:58 mark, with fifth-year senior playmaker Max Laguna and junior midfield mate Woody Angell involved, though the tally was ultimately credited as an own goal.

The closest MSU Denver came to leveling matters undoubtedly came in the 21st minute as the visitors earned a penalty kick. Fourth-year junior Bronco goalkeeper Luke Garciduenas came up huge, however, to deny sophomore midfielder Matt Vogel the equalizer. It was the first penalty kick that the Pomona native had faced as a collegian.

CPP then effectively clinched the victory in the 59th minute as Aleksandar Somov, a true freshman midfielder out of Sofia, Bulgaria, notched his first points through his first goal in just his third game of college soccer. He found the bottom right corner with senior tri-captain Jasper Winslow providing the assist to mark his first point of the current campaign, and third career helper.

Garciduenas ultimately collected three saves to pick up his third shutout of 2024 and eighth of his college days. Fellow junior Nick McNeil had a season-high nine stops for the visitors. The Broncos' 15 total shots and 10 shots on goal were both season highs, with the latter total their largest since compiling 12 in an 8-0 home thrashing of CCAA foe Stanislaus State on Oct. 8, 2023. MSU Denver countered with just five attempts.

The successful result gives sixth-year CPP head coach Matt O'Sullivan his 54th win in charge of the Green and Gold, joining current UC Irvine leader Yossi Raz (2013-16) on the top rung of the program record book.


Up Next
This lengthy home stand continues for Cal Poly Pomona with more RMAC opposition, as Colorado School of Mines (1-4) visits Kellogg Stadium this Sunday afternoon, Sept. 22. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. The Orediggers lost at No. 3 Cal State LA on Friday night, 4-1. All home contests have live streaming video through FloSports.


Bronco Bits

• CPP is 54-16-18 (.716) overall under sixth-year (fifth season) head coach Matt O'Sullivan.
• O'Sullivan sent out the same 11 for the second straight game with one exception, as true junior forward Sam Lena made his 2024 debut in place of senior newcomer Marc Birkelund, who had started each of the first three games.
• It was a third collegiate start for Lena, and first at home, having previously been in the lineup on a Northern California road trip at San Francisco State and Cal State Monterey Bay last October.
• Lena wound up with a team-high three shots, all on frame.
• Luke Garciduenas, Daniel Gutierrez, Fin Jackson, Marcus Jorgensen and Jasper Winslow played the full 90 minutes.
• MSU Denver still leads the all-time series, 3-2-2, having earned back-to-back victories heading into Friday.
• The Broncos were 0-3-2 against the Roadrunners over the previous five meetings, with four in Denver and the one in Bakersfield.
• CPP is 69-23-16 as a nationally-ranked program since 2002, including 31-10-15 under O'Sullivan.