SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The Cal Poly Pomona women's soccer team scored three first-half goals and routed Westmont College, 5-1, in non-conference action on Saturday afternoon at Thorrington Field.

With the victory, defending California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) champion and preseason favorite CPP remains perfect at 4-0. The Broncos were receiving votes just outside of Tuesday's latest United Soccer Coaches top 25. Westmont drops to 0-3-1, all against CCAA opposition thus far. The Warriors are in their second season in the NCAA Division II and Pacific West Conference (PacWest), and were picked to place fifth out of 14 squads in that league's preseason poll.

Each side was credited with an early attempt as Westmont's Amelia Villa had hers blocked within the very first minute, and Giselle Samayoa missed to the left in the fifth. Just past the quarter-hour mark, it was CPP newcomer Lavinia Vaipulu who was denied by the left post.

Cal Poly Pomona continued to press forward for the game's opening goal, and finally found it at the 21:49 mark courtesy of Vanessa Cruz. The junior transfer from the University of Saint Katherine struck for her first goal in the Green and Gold. Cruz had produced a USK-record 15 goals a season ago before the San Diego school ceased operations. Senior midfielder Auburn Burnett earned credit for the assist to give her a share of the team lead. It was her sixth major college assist, all coming in one-plus seasons for the Broncos.

That score opened the floodgates, as CPP put an end to any potential drama before even the halftime whistle. True junior midfielder Marisa Salazar, the season's first CCAA Offensive Player of the Week, pounced for her league-leading fourth goal half an hour in, after substitute Chloe Green's shot glanced off the right post. That was after Tara Oper's 26th-minute effort had also come off the same right post.

Then in the 39th minute, Alexis Macias, who had entered the fray following the Salazar goal, made it 3-0 with a shot to the upper left. It was her first points of 2024 and third goal as a second-year Bronco.

The visitors wasted little time in upping their lead after the break, as Salazar collected her second brace in the last three contests. She picked off an errant pass and on her second touch, unleashed a right-footed blast from 30 yards into the bottom left at 50:38 for her milestone 10th college goal. The Long Beach native's five scores in the first four games already equal her total from her freshman and sophomore seasons.

Westmont came close to pulling one back in the 58th minute, but Villa hit the right woodwork. CPP ultimately did concede its first goal of the campaign at 72:52 as Villa picked out the bottom left of the target for the junior's first of the year. The last time CPP had started off with three straight shutouts was in 2017, all of them also victories, in ninth-year head coach Jay Mason's second season at the helm.

That lone Warrior goal made Salazar's initial strike the game-winner, now giving her five career deciders and a CCAA-high three this year.

Cal Poly Pomona still had time to answer that Westmont tally, however, as Macias completed a first major college brace into the bottom left in the 88th minute. True freshman Lizzy Northcott was given the assist for her first collegiate point.

Reigning CCAA Defensive Player of the Week Bella Hara made a pair of second-half saves. Fellow senior Maya Pablos and sophomore Ellie Ludwig split net-minder duties for the hosts for the fourth game in a row. Ludwig began the match and had zero stops. Pablos took over for the second half and contributed one save.

CPP outshot Westmont 11-2 over the first 45 minutes and 19-7 for the day. The home side had the first and last shots of that first half, with the Broncos producing 11 straight in between, including the three goals and three more off of the left and right posts.

CPP put away five goals for the first time since a 5-0 home romp in CCAA play over Cal State East Bay on Nov. 1, 2019. The Broncos had not even scored four since early in the 2021 campaign.

Cal Poly Pomona is 4-0 to start the season for the first time under Mason, the first time since 2009, and the fifth time in program history.

Up Next
Cal Poly Pomona resumes this season-long four-game road stretch in the week ahead, flying to Colorado to take on CSU Pueblo in Pueblo on Friday, Sept. 20 (6 p.m. PT), and MSU Denver in Denver on Sunday, Sept. 22 (11 a.m. PT). Both games can be seen on the RMAC Network.

Bronco Bits

• Cal Poly Pomona is 64-47-21 (.564) overall under ninth-year (eighth season) head coach Jay Mason.
• Mason sent out the same starting 11 for the third consecutive game.
• Only Bella Hara played the full 90 minutes.
• Ece Aliyazicioglu and Haley Hong made their 2024 debuts, while true freshmen Aly Papka and Kailey Powers drew their first collegiate appearances, all off the bench in the second half.
• CPP leads this all-time series, 8-3-1, including 3-2 in Santa Barbara and 1-0-1 under Mason (1-0 on the road).
• The sides had not faced off in 25 years prior to last season's 2-2 draw in Pomona, as the Broncos had dropped a narrow 3-2 decision on their previous trip to Santa Barbara all the way back in 1998.
• CPP earned six of the 12 first-place votes in the 2024 CCAA preseason poll..