The men’s soccer team recorded its third consecutive shutout of the season, defeating the Cal State Dominguez Hills Toros 4-0 on Thursday night.
The Broncos gained possession of the game early on, with two shots within the first two minutes of the match. However, it wasn’t until the 20th minute that the Broncos were able to get on the board.
After a sequence of passes by senior forward Jordan Jackmon and senior midfielder Jimmie Villalobos, the ball ended up at the feet of junior midfielder Eduardo Faria, who knocked it past the Toros’ keeper.
The Broncos rushed to Faria and joined him in a celebratory dance near the sideline before holding off the Toros for the remaining 25 minutes of the half.
Entering the second half with a 1-0 lead, the Broncos knew that wasn’t enough to land them a victory and continued to attack.
In the 69th minute, Jackmon went one-on-one with the Toros’ goalkeeper, crashing into him and leaving the ball up for grabs. With the goalkeeper down, Faria gained possession of the ball and sent a perfect pass to sophomore forward Gabriel Castillo, who scored on an open net.
“They gave a long ball to (Jackmon). He crashed with the goalie and the ball was left there for (Faria). (Faria) played the ball across and it was a tap in for me,” Castillo said.
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In the 82nd minute, the Broncos increased their lead again when junior midfielder Ateno Ajeakwa delivered a perfect pass in the box to junior midfielder Omer Green, who snuck the ball past the goalie for a 3-0 lead.
The Broncos continued to control the game until the very last minute. With only seconds remaining, Ajeakwa took on the Toros’ defense alone before blasting it into the back of the net to leave the Broncos with a 4-0 victory.
“So, I was hanging out in the left width and I saw a ball kind of fly into (the Toros’) back four. Nobody was chasing it, so I just kept on it,” Ajeakwa said. “The defender came across, I had to cut across him and tuck it into the near post. I saw my opportunity and I had to take it.”
Despite the Toros’ six shots, Broncos junior goalkeeper Jordan Aldama did not have to make one save as none of them were on goal.
The Broncos led the game in shots with 13, nine of which were on goal.
“We struck early on and it made the game a lot calmer,” head coach Matt O’Sullivan said. “The amount of shutouts we have been getting is fantastic. Our goal is to shut teams out and really focus on the defensive side because that will win us games.”
The Broncos faced their biggest rivals, the No. 2 Cal State L.A. Eagles, on Sunday afternoon.
“It is going to be a very big game, so not getting too emotional and just playing within ourselves is very important to manage the game,” O’Sullivan said after Thursday’s match. “When we are in our process, I think we are very good, so we need to just keep sticking to our process.”
The Broncos fell to the Eagles 0-4 during the CCAA conference last season and again, 0-2, during the CCAA tournament.
Ready to find revenge, the Broncos brought all their energy to Kellogg Stadium on Sunday.
The Broncos were ahead in shots but could not find the back of the net for the entire first half.
Both teams struggled to get on the board during regulation, so the game headed to overtime.
In the 96th minute, the Eagles saw their opportunity, scoring on Aldama to win the game.
The Broncos’ overall record now stands at 6-4-2, with a conference record of 5-1-1.
This week, the Broncos will continue their home streak as they take on Humboldt State at 3 p.m. Friday and San Francisco State at 11:30 a.m. Sunday.
