POMONA, Calif. - Tara Oper's incredible goal lifted Cal Poly Pomona to an upset triumph over No. 1-ranked reigning NCAA Division II national champion Point Loma Nazarene University, 1-0, in a marquee non-conference women's soccer match at Kellogg Stadium on Thursday.

With the win, defending California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) champion and preseason favorite CPP improves to 3-0. The Broncos were receiving votes just outside of Tuesday's latest United Soccer Coaches top 25. Point Loma entered with an identical record and returns home to San Diego at 2-1. The Sea Lions were also the 2023 West Region and Pacific West Conference (PacWest) champions, and are the preseason PacWest favorites, returning most of their core group from a year ago.

Through the first 25-plus minutes, the Broncos did not allow a shot attempt by the Sea Lions, while Oper and fellow veteran Liberty Ortiz each saw an effort go high of the frame.

Then at the 26:04 mark came not just the first shot on target by either side, but the first and only goal of the match. And what a goal it was.

Junior Angelina Rivas pulled the ball back at the end line by the corner flag on the right side. Her strike partner, Oper, corralled the bouncing ball, cut her defender with her right foot, and from just beyond the right edge of the penalty box, unleashed an unbelievable left-footed strike that carried over the goalkeeper's head and into the far-side netting.

It went down as Oper's seventh collegiate goal and fourth game-winner. For Rivas, a first-year transfer out of the University of Montevallo in Montevallo, Ala., it was a team-leading second assist.

Fifth-year senior and second-year Bronco starter Bella Hara, the season's first CCAA Defensive Player of the Week, finished with a season-high five saves in goal to earn her third clean sheet in as many matches. It was her 10th shutout for Cal Poly Pomona and 13th of her college career. True junior Julia Pinnell had two stops for the visitors.

Cal Poly Pomona was out-shot for the evening, 10-5, including 5-1 following the halftime interval. The Broncos did generate a season-best eight corner kicks, to six by the Sea Lions.

The victory is CPP's first over a No. 1-ranked program, with the Broncos now 1-3-1 in such matchups going back through 1997. Cal Poly Pomona had last played the No. 1 team in the land on Sept. 4, 2016, tying Grand Valley State 2-2 in double overtime, also at home, early in ninth-year head coach Jay Mason's first season. The Broncos' top upsets previously were a pair of successes against third-ranked sides in 1998 (Sonoma State in Bakersfield) and 2003 (UC San Diego in La Jolla).

Up Next
Having now wrapped up this season-opening three-game home stand, Cal Poly Pomona faces its first road test of 2024 this Saturday afternoon, Sept. 14, at Westmont College (0-2-1) in Santa Barbara. Kickoff at Thorrington Field is set for 12:30 p.m., with a live stream on the PacWest Network. The contest will mark the start of a season-long four-game road stretch for the Broncos leading into CCAA play in October.

Bronco Bits

• Cal Poly Pomona is 63-47-21 (.561) overall under ninth-year (eighth season) head coach Jay Mason.
• Mason trotted out the same starting 11 for the second successive game.
• Bella Anderson, Bella Hara, Marisa Salazar and Giselle Samayoa played the full 90 minutes.
• CPP now leads this all-time series, 7-6, having entered the matchup a loser of three straight against Point Loma, a run which included narrow 1-0 defeats in each of the past two years (both via penalty-kick goals).
• CPP is 2-4 against the Sea Lions at home, and 3-5 under Mason (1-3 in Pomona).
• The Broncos had last faced a nationally-ranked opponent last Sept. 29, upsetting No. 21 Cal Poly Humboldt in Arcata in their CCAA opener, 2-0, behind a second-half Jaclyn Cuevas brace.
• CPP earned six of the 12 first-place votes in the 2024 CCAA preseason poll, while Point Loma got 12 of the 14 in its poll.
• The Broncos will also end this 2024 regular season with a three-game home stand.