LA MIRADA, Calif. - The 10th-ranked Cal Poly Pomona men's soccer team began its 2024 schedule by downing Biola University, 2-0, behind two second-half goals on Thursday night at Al Barbour Field.

CPP (1-0), picked to place second in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA), moves to an even 2-2-1 in season lid-lifters under sixth-year head coach Matt O'Sullivan. Biola (0-1) is favored for fifth in the 14-team Pacific West Conference (PacWest). The Broncos were kicking off a second straight campaign against the Eagles, the two sides having played to a scoreless draw in Pomona last Aug. 31.

Thursday's deadlock was finally broken just after the hour mark, as junior midfielder Woody Angell found the back of the net at 60:38, with senior newcomer Marc Birkelund picking up the assist for his first point as a Bronco. It was Angell's sixth goal in the Green and Gold, and would go down as the England native's third game-winning tally.

Sophomore reserve forward Rocco Bon clinched the result at 87:41 through an unassisted effort for the first goal of his college career.

Fourth-year junior Luke Garciduenas drew his 13th collegiate start in net for the Broncos, including a second straight in a season opener, and came up with three saves, all in the second half. The Pomona product posted his sixth career clean sheet. Senior Gijs van Schouten had four stops for the hosts. The duo had also faced off in last season's 0-0 affair.

CPP outshot Biola on the evening, 12-4, and earned eight corner kicks to five by the Eagles. Angell led all players with his career-high-tying five shots, having accounted for three of the Broncos' four first-half attempts.

Birkelund, a Dane who spent the past three seasons at NCAA Division II Flagler College in St. Augustine, Fla., was one of three new Broncos in the starting lineup, joined by the freshman tandem of Daniel Gutierrez and Liam McFarlane. Sixth-year senior Ethan Benham, a transfer from CSUN, made his Bronco debut off the bench, while freshmen Hector Arellanes, Mataar Moskowitz and Aleksandar Somov drew their first collegiate appearances, also as reserves. McFarlane aided in the shutout on the back line alongside veterans Fin Jackson and Marcus Jorgensen.

Up Next
Cal Poly Pomona will next take on defending PacWest champion and preseason favorite Point Loma (0-0-1) this Saturday, Sept. 7, down south at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center. The game was originally scheduled to take place at Point Loma, but was briefly moved to Pomona due to an ongoing field surface renovation at the Sea Lions' facility. The final destination is now Chula Vista, with a kickoff time of 5 p.m. and only live statistics available without a live video stream.

Bronco Bits

• CPP is 52-15-18 (.718) overall under sixth-year (fifth season) head coach Matt O'Sullivan.
• O'Sullivan is now three victories shy of supplanting current UC Irvine leader Yossi Raz (54 from 2013-16) as the winningest head coach in program history.
• Luke Garciduenas, Fin Jackson and Marcus Jorgensen played the full 90 minutes.
• Cal Poly Pomona leads the all-time series, 5-2-2, and is 1-2 against the Eagles in La Mirada (1-1 with O'Sullivan) and 3-1-1 under O'Sullivan.
• Biola has failed to score over the last 425:41 against the Broncos.
• CPP is 67-22-16 as a nationally-ranked program since 2002, including 29-9-15 under O'Sullivan.
• Game time was moved back from 7 to 7:30 p.m. due to the ongoing heat wave in Southern California.