By Christian Park-Gastelum, Sept. 24, 2024
Cal Poly Pomona men’s soccer team improved to 16-8-1 overall in the series against Azusa Pacific University, after defeating the Cougars 2-0 at Kellogg Stadium Sept. 14 in their home opener.
CPP’s No. 21 ranked defenders took possession of the ball early from a crosskick sent by APU’s goalkeeper, propelling the ball to midfielder Daniel Gutierrez to create space for a long pass to the right side of the field ahead of midfielder Woody Angell.
From the right side of the box, Angell dribbled closer and then took a right-leg kick, sending the ball across the body of APU’s goalkeeper to find its way to the lower left corner of the net, scoring the Broncos’ first goal at the 8:45 mark.
Angell recorded his second goal of the season, including two game winners and his seventh career goal as a Bronco, while Gutierrez earned his first point at the collegiate level off the assist.
CPP controlled possession of the ball for most of the first half, outshooting APU 8-0.
Midfielder Max Laguna emphasized the team’s focus on taking a high number of shots a game and executing what the Broncos worked on in practice.
“That’s one stat that we have on our goal board in our locker room,” Laguna said. “That’s our main goal; we want to hit more than 10 and possibly even get to 20 every game. We have been close to that, and it’s just being relentless in practice and taking opportunities. We have a lot of stats we want to hit each game that could lead us to win, but it’s not just the shots on target because there are different paths that we practice trying to hit during the games.”
APU applied pressure to start the second half, quickly crossing the ball over CPP’s defenders during the kickoff.
The ball bounced before an APU forward used his head to control the direction of the ball, giving a high pass to a teammate, resulting in an unsuccessful header attempt that grazed over the top of the goal post into CPP goalkeeper Luke Garciduenas’ hands.
The Broncos worked their way onto the opponent’s side, responding with a corner kick to create an opportunity to score.
Defender Marcus Jorgensen jumped to head the ball kicked in by Laguna, ricocheting off the backs of two APU defenders to send the ball in the air in front of the net.
Forward Jakob Singh kicked the ball past APU’s goalkeeper at the 47:58 mark, scoring his first goal of the season and the seventh goal of his CPP career.
Jorgensen and Laguna earned an assist on Singh’s goal to increase CPP’s lead to 2-0 over the Cougars.
On the field, Bronco forwards and midfielders spaced out across the field, passing the ball to each other to keep possession allowing for the momentum to carry into their opponent’s side.
“What we’re doing basically is just trying to make sure that we’re getting behind the opposition,” Singh said. “If we put the ball behind them, we’re going to get to the spots we want in order to get the shots. We’re waiting for the right opportunity to go and trying to manipulate and pull them out of their spot so we can expose that and get behind them.”
The Broncos took advantage of the ball traveling onto their side, poking the ball away or forcing APU to take unsteady shots to avoid CPP defenders approaching in a wall-like formation.
The Broncos finished with 14 shots and eight shots on goal to the Cougars’ four shots and zero on goal.
Defender Fin Jackson gave insight into the mentality of keeping the opponent on their side of the field on defense.
“For us, it’s how we can move the opposition and almost manipulate them into what we want to do, so we try to move them,” Jackson said. “Obviously we need to move the ball quickly, but we also need to be set up where if we do lose the ball, we can get it back quickly and be in that position where we can go get it back. The more we can stay in their half and the closer it is to their goal and the further away is for us is always the better of it.”
CPP moved to 2-1-0 on the season and remains in position to reach the program’s fifth-consecutive postseason tournament.
“The ultimate goal is to win championships and have a great record to participate in the NCAA because it’s not easy,” Laguna said. “We’re keeping into account we have one loss against Point Loma, so every game is important and even treated like a championship game. That’s the main goal once we get there to finish it off and bring back a trophy.”
Photos courtesy of Leroy Crook