By Aaron Coloma, Oct. 17, 2023
Cal Poly Pomona striker Jakob Singh scored two goals against Sonoma State Oct. 1 on his way to his first California Collegiate Athletic Association Offensive Player of the Week award.
Singh’s first collegiate brace took him only five minutes and 10 seconds to complete and made the difference for the Broncos on the road, as they triumphed over the Seawolves 3-1.
After missing the majority of last season due to injury, Singh is enjoying his start to the season, tallying six goals and an assist through 397 minutes of play. While he was excited about the award, Singh insisted his and his team’s focus remains on finding success on the field.
“Feels good man, just to know that the hard work has paid off for something,” Singh said. “Still, we haven’t won anything yet. We’re going for conference, for national titles, but it feels good to win something personally.”
Singh and his team have reason to believe they can reach such heights as well. After being voted favorites to win the league in a preseason poll of CCAA head coaches, the Broncos earned an undefeated start to the season and a No. 7 national ranking. Following a pair of devastating losses at Sonoma State and Colorado State University Pueblo in the CCAA and NCAA Division II tournaments last year, they are hungry for more.
The agile striker has scored crucial goals for the Broncos this season, such as the second in a 2-2 draw with No. 3 Chico State and a late goal to seal victory against Regis University, establishing himself as the second top scorer on the men’s soccer team. He provided his first collegiate assist in an 8-0 rout of Stanislaus State Oct. 8.
To keep up his run of good form, the Los Alamitos native focuses on remaining consistent both on and off the pitch.
“Just habits,” Singh said. “Good habits before the game, during practice, always sticking to the same schedule as much as possible.”
Now a sophomore, Singh credited his team for helping him settle in and readjust to the game after his injury.
“I definitely feel more of a connection with my teammates, especially being around them all of last year,” Singh said.
Singh said putting all his free time toward soccer has been his top priority this season. This has been evident since his return to the team, recording career highs across all attacking statistics with 6 goals so far this season and 81.8% of his shots on target.
The effort he puts in has not gone unnoticed by the coaching staff either. Singh has played in every game and has seen an increased share of minutes since the beginning of the season, playing less than last year’s season high only twice.
Aside from team accolades, Singh is aiming to be selected as an All-American at the end of the season.
Singh grew up playing many different sports, even competing in the long jump and triple jump in high school, but claimed he always knew soccer was the sport he wanted to stick to.
He began playing soccer at age 3 and played primarily with Strikers FC, an Orange County-based club soccer team, through his adolescence. He worked his way up to the academy level, now called MLS Next, which is affiliated with professional teams in the USA.
Singh’s ties to the sport are strong, and despite always training with his teammates at CPP, he likes to return home to play as well.
“I play where I grew up around,” Singh said. “Strikers is like my home for soccer. I basically played for Strikers my whole life.”
Outside of soccer, Singh is pursuing a kinesiology degree at CPP. When he isn’t balancing school and athletics, he enjoys reading books and watching “The Legend of Korra.”
If Singh’s speed and clinical track record in front of goal are any indicator of the future, there is much more in store for the striker.
Singh and the Broncos look to continue their hot start to conference play on the road this weekend with games at San Francisco State Oct. 20 and Cal State Monterey Bay Oct. 22.
Feature image courtesy of CPP Athletics