HAYWARD, Calif. - Cal Poly Pomona trotted out to a 3-0 advantage by halftime but was made to hang on in the end to eliminate Cal State East Bay, 3-2, in a semifinal match of the 2024 California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Men's Soccer Tournament presented by FloCollege on Friday evening at Pioneer Stadium.

Playing postseason soccer for the 10th consecutive season, 23rd-ranked CPP improves to 12-1-6. Its unbeaten streak has reached 17 matches at 11-0-6, now the program's longest single-season run after eclipsing the 16-gamer (15-0-1) to open the 2014 campaign, Sept. 4-Oct. 24. Seventeen equals the overall school record, as the 2013 finale had made that a 17-game stretch (16-0-1) from Nov. 3, 2013, to Oct. 24, 2014.

Sixth-seeded host East Bay sees its season come to an end at 6-8-5. The Pioneers were an undefeated 2-0-2 over their previous four, including last Sunday afternoon's shock 1-0 road upset of No. 3 seed Chico State to earn Friday's conference semifinal contest inside its home venue.

Sunday's CCAA Tournament final will pit the two regular-season co-champions in CPP and Cal State Dominguez Hills (10-4-5), which rode a seventh-minute Jose Peredia goal in the second semifinal to blank 2023 CCAA double champion Cal State LA for the second time in eight days. The Broncos and Toros played to a 1-1 tie in Pomona on Oct. 20.

Sunday will mark Cal Poly Pomona's fourth CCAA final appearance in five tries under first-time CCAA Coach of the Year Matt O'Sullivan. The Broncos won the 2019 edition in the leader's first go-around in charge.

The Broncos were playing their second match this season at Pioneer Stadium, having rallied late in the second half to defeat East Bay, 2-1, in the teams' regular-season meeting back on Oct. 11. Max Laguna in fact won it remarkably with just two seconds remaining.

Over the first three and a half minutes, the visitors already had a pair of shot attempts, both by true junior striker Sam Lena, with the latter on target and saved by sophomore East Bay goalkeeper Adan Corona.

Then yet again, the Broncos grabbed an early lead, as Lema found the back of the net off a feed from fellow junior forward Mads Frederiksen at 7:40. The goal was Lema's first of 2024 and fourth total for CPP.

Cal Poly Pomona did not allow its first shot until the 23rd minute, when Julian Valle's effort sailed too high. Moments later, it was nearly 2-0, only for true freshman Daniel Gutierrez to get denied by the right post.

At 25:38, it indeed was 2-0. Senior tri-captain Jasper Winslow was the scorer for the second consecutive contest to give him two on the year and six for his career, with Frederiksen again providing the set-up play. For Frederiksen, his first collegiate two-assist game left him with five helpers this season and nine total as a Bronco.

CPP's hold was further strengthened by adding a third at the 36:07 mark through another true junior forward in Jakob Singh. It was his fifth on the year and 11th collegiate goal. Lema turned provider, earning his career-best fifth assist this season and ninth of his college days.

The tables turned in the second half, however, as East Bay took five of the first six shots within just 10 minutes of the restart, with one on frame and saved by fourth-year CPP goalkeeper Luke Garciduenas.

The hosts' increased pressure was finally rewarded in the 65th minute as Valle pulled one back. The true sophomore forward then completed his brace in the 74th to give him three goals in 2024. The scores were assisted by seniors Drew Gibbons and Aaron Farnan, respectively, to really make for a tense final 16 minutes.

The drama was far from done. East Bay came agonizingly close to coming all the back in the 85th minute following a corner kick, but Garciduenas made a spectacular save back out for a corner kick to preserve his team's 3-2 edge. The Pomona product was then credited with one final save with a mere three ticks left, on Pablo Almontes. The final whistle made Singh's goal his second career game-winner.

Garciduenas and Corona wound up with four saves apiece. East Bay ultimately out-shot CPP, 15-14, after a 12-5 bulge following the halftime interval. Lema finished with a career-high five shots to lead all players.

Up Next
Kickoff for Sunday's CCAA Tournament championship match between No. 2 seed Cal Poly Pomona and No. 1 seed Cal State Dominguez Hills is set for 1 p.m. again at Pioneer Stadium on the campus of Cal State East Bay in Hayward. Sunday's men's and women's CCAA Tournament final tilts will feature live streaming video through FloSports.

Bronco Bits

• CPP is 63-16-24 (.728) overall and 4-1-3 (.688) in CCAA Tournament play under sixth-year (fifth season) head coach Matt O'Sullivan, who on Sept. 22 took over the No. 1 position in the program record book for wins.
• O'Sullivan sent out the same 11 for the second straight match, and has used 15 different starting lineups through 19 games.
• True freshman Daniel Gutierrez remains the only Bronco to start all 19 matches.
• Luke Garciduenas, Fin Jackson, Liam McFarlane, Joseph Spencer and Jasper Winslow played the full 90 minutes.
• Out of 1,710 minutes played this season, the Broncos have trailed for just 195:27.
• This is the fourth straight year that CPP has produced an unbeaten streak of double-digit games.
• The Broncos have struck first, all over the first 16 minutes, in six straight matches.
• CPP is 9-5-4 in its 11th CCAA Tournament appearance all-time, including 8-1 in semifinals (eight straight wins), 2-1-1 in true road games, 7-2-2 as the No. 2 seed, 1-1-2 against No. 6 seeds, and 1-0 against East Bay.
• CPP maintains a hefty 17-2-5 advantage in the all-time series against East Bay, with eight straight wins by an aggregate score of 35-4 since a 1-1 double-overtime home draw on Oct. 9, 2016.
• The Broncos are 9-1-3 against the Pioneers in Hayward, and 6-0 under O'Sullivan (3-0 on the road), boasting an aggregate margin of 27-4 in six matchups with him in charge.
• CPP is an undefeated 16-0-4 the last 20 times out against East Bay, since a 3-1 road loss on Sept. 19, 1992.
• CPP is 76-23-22 as a nationally-ranked program since 2002, including 38-10-21 under O'Sullivan and 10-1-6 in 2024.
• In Wednesday's third edition of the official NCAA regional listings, CPP dropped two spots from fifth to seventh in Super Region 4, which again holds 10 entries into the NCAA Championship.
• Prior to Friday's match, CCAA Commissioner Allen Hardison presented Mads Frederiksen with the league's men's soccer Elite 13 Award for maintaining the top cumulative grade-point average (3.90) among student-athletes participating at this week's championship.