No. 6 Cal Poly Pomona Edged by No. 4 Cal State LA in Third Round of NCAA Championship

WICHITA FALLS, Texas - The No. 6 Cal Poly Pomona men's soccer team was narrowly bested once more by fourth-ranked California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) foe Cal State LA, 1-0, in the third round of the 2023 NCAA Division II Championship at host Midwestern State University's Stang Park on Friday afternoon.

Cal Poly Pomona, seeded third in Super Region 4, has its 2023 season conclude at 14-2-5 overall. Making their eighth consecutive NCAA Championship appearance, the Broncos had entered an unbeaten 7-0-2 over their last nine contests. Second-seeded CCAA regular-season and tournament double champion Cal State LA moves to 18-1-2. The Golden Eagles are now 12-0-1 since their lone defeat of this current campaign.

The two fierce rivals had each started the day unbeaten away from home, with CPP at 8-0-3 and CSULA at 7-0-2, both 1-0-1 at neutral venues. Friday marked their third epic clash of 2023. The Broncos dropped another 1-0 home decision in the regular season on Oct. 12 (CPP's other loss), before the sides played to a scoreless draw through 110 minutes in the CCAA Tournament final on Nov. 12 in Arcata. Cal State LA lifted the trophy via penalty-kick tiebreaker, 4-3.

Cal State LA advances to face the winner of Friday's late third-round match between undefeated, second-ranked and top-seeded host Midwestern State (20-0-1), and 16th-ranked No. 4 seed CSU Pueblo (16-4-2), last year's national runner-up, in a national quarterfinal this Sunday, Dec. 3, at 1 p.m. PT (3 p.m. CT).

CPP got the game's first shot off within the very first minute, as senior All-American forward Paul Roger Henschke's right-footer from inside the area flashed wide of the right post. The contest's initial corner kick led to Cal State LA's first shot attempt in the eighth minute, with Andrew Portis' far-post effort blocked out for another corner kick.

Cal State LA struck at the 33:26 mark. Reserve midfielder Carson Nguyen played a ball out to the right flank, and Simon Johansen whipped in a right-footed cross. Senior Oliver Diaz, the 2023 CCAA Player and Midfielder of the Year, as well as the Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) West Region Player of the Year, got up just higher than his defender and was able to produce a bullet header from around the penalty spot, into the right-side netting for 1-0. It was Diaz's fifth goal of the season, eventually his third game-winner, and Johansen's fourth helper. Nguyen was not credited with an assist.

CPP, which had not generated a second shot following that early Henschke try, nearly equalized in the 36th. Sixth-year senior Christian Miramontes, who had come on just four minutes earlier, first had his left-footed shot blocked down, and then sent a right-footed rebound effort that Golden Eagle goalkeeper Julian Aadlandsvik went down to his right to parry out for a corner kick and preserve his team's 1-0 edge.

Cal Poly Pomona registered seven consecutive shots in the second half from the 53rd to the 81st minutes, but none were on frame. The most promising opportunity came from Henschke in the 68th. Portis whiffed on a clearance attempt in the center of the field at the edge of his defensive third, sending Henschke sprinting into the Golden Eagle penalty area, only for his strong left-footed shot to scream over the bar.

The 81st minute saw a strange one as Melvyn Perez Cortez threw it in from the right side to Jasper Winslow, whose right-footed cross to the back post seemingly glanced off the back of the head of a Cal State LA defender, hit the crossbar and went over the end line. A goal kick was given by the match official.

Finally in the 83rd minute, Cesar Ruvalcaba put a shot on target following a long ball from the left side that was knocked down by the defense, but the senior All-American captain was unable to apply much power behind the half-volley, which didn't trouble Aadlandsvik.

That was CPP's last chance, with alas Cal State LA seeing out a sixth successive shutout over the Broncos, who have not scored against the Golden Eagles over the past 565:09 since late in the 2021 CCAA final. CPP was the league's top scoring team, with 50 goals over 21 contests.

Fourth-year senior CPP goalkeeper CJ Walker made his 10th straight start and collected zero saves as Cal State LA's lone shot on goal, was the game's only score. Aadlandsvik, the All-CCAA Second Team goalie who has started all 21 matches and played all 1,910 minutes, wound up with two stops in picking up his Division II-leading 16th shutout of 2023. It was a fourth successive clean sheet, including back-to-back 1-0 decisions now in the NCAA tournament.

The Broncos finished with a 12-7 shot advantage for the 90 minutes, including 8-2 in the second half. They earned nine corner kicks to six by the Golden Eagles.

Friday's result marked the likely end of the college careers of a remarkable senior class for fifth-year CPP head coach Matt O'Sullivan. That group is made up of Henschke, Miramontes, Perez Cortez, Ruvalcaba, Walker, Thomas Guei, Kevin Hernandez and Melvin Leon. Henschke, a native of Berlin, Germany, leaves the program fourth all-time in goals (29) and total points (74), and seventh in assists (16).

Bronco Bits:

• CPP is 51-15-18 (.714) overall, 3-4-1 (.438) in the NCAA Championship and 6-5-4 (.533) in postseason play under fifth-year (fourth season) head coach Matt O'Sullivan.
• O'Sullivan sent out the same starting 11 for the fifth match in a row.
• CJ Walker's start was his 27th in the green and gold.
• Paul Roger Henschke was the lone Bronco to start all 21 games, and began 25 straight going back to last season.
• Henschke, Walker, Marcus Jorgensen, Melvyn Perez Cortez, Cesar Ruvalcaba and Jasper Winslow all played the full 90 minutes.
• CPP is 15-9-3 after its ninth NCAA Championship appearance all-time, including 3-2-1 in the third round, 13-8-3 away from home, 10-4-2 at neutral sites, 5-1-1 in Wichita Falls, Texas, and 1-2 against CSULA.
• Cal State LA leads the all-time series, 36-23-8, now an undefeated 7-0-1 over the past eight meetings since a 1-0 Bronco home decision on Sept. 25, 2021, through an 11th-minute Henschke strike.
• The Broncos are 0-3-2 versus the Golden Eagles at neutral sites (all La Jolla before last month's CCAA final in Arcata), 2-6-2 in postseason matchups, and 1-8-2 under O'Sullivan (0-1-2 neutral).
• CPP is 66-22-16 as a nationally-ranked program since 2002, including 28-9-15 under O'Sullivan and 14-2-5 in 2023.
• The Broncos are 26-38-13 against nationally-ranked opponents, also since 2002, 9-12-6 with O'Sullivan in charge, and 4-2-2 this season (0-2-1 vs. CSULA).
• They are 4-10-5 in that stretch against top-five foes (1-4-3 with O'Sullivan and 0-1-2 this year).

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