By Cesar Rivas, September 16, 2025
After a disappointing loss in its home opener, the Cal Poly Pomona men’s soccer team split points at Kellogg Stadium in a dramatic 3-3 draw against Point Loma University, Sept. 6.
The match opened with the Broncos flying out the gates, establishing a high press for Point Loma, a team focused on keeping possession.
“It’s a really good team, so you kind of have to press them higher to squeeze on them,” said head coach Matt O’Sullivan. “So, I think it’s a good team that we played pretty well, especially when we started again.”
Despite the early pressure, the Sea Lions were first on the scoreboard as midfielder Cole Friesen found the back of the net with a shot from just inside the penalty area in the 20th minute. Friesen secured his second goal of the night just four minutes later with a curling ball from outside the 18-yard box for a 2-0 lead.
“We just can’t defend the way we’re defending right now, and we can’t give goals the way we’re giving them,” O’Sullivan said. “It’s not good enough, and we have to clean it up.”
The Broncos’ best chance to catch up came in the 32nd minute when a cross from the left touch line found the head of midfielder Aleksandar Somov, forcing Point Loma goalkeeper Jeremy Caringella to stretch out for the save.
After 45 minutes of play, the Broncos found themselves down 2-0.
The Broncos came back from halftime full of energy, once more initiating a high press on Point Loma’s backline.
“We were talking about it in the break that we were already 2-0 down, so we didn’t really have anything else to lose,” said CPP forward Mads Frederiksen. “It’s just about putting pressure on them, going up as high as possible, so when we lost the ball, we would still be on their half.”
The constant pressure was soon rewarded, as CPP brought the game within one when defender Emiliano Garcia headed home a corner kick by Frederiksen in the 59th minute.
With momentum on the Broncos’ side, midfielder Daniel Gutierrez netted the equalizer in the 61st minute with a rocket from outside of the box that found the top right corner of the net.
“I saw the space open up, and I started dribbling and just landed a perfect touch, so all I thought was hitting it, and it happened to go in,” Gutierrez said.
The match evened itself out as both sides created chances that ultimately wouldn’t amount to any serious scoring opportunity.
Point Loma pulled ahead in the 70th minute after poor clearances from inside CPP’s own penalty area led to forward Elijah Langford netting the go-ahead goal, making the score 3-2.
“I think we did a lot of good stuff in regards to scoring so quickly, goals inside 15 minutes and then kind of lacked a little bit on the defensive side for that third goal,” Frederiksen said. “We talked a lot about individual defending, but we need to get better at it.”
Although behind, the Broncos didn’t concede as CPP defender Adam Benyoussef picked up the ball at midfield and played a perfectly timed pass to forward Clement Badger, who capitalized on his one-on-one chance with the goalkeeper in the 72nd minute.
With 18 minutes remaining, neither side was able to produce the game-winning goal. The match ended 3-3, and each team left with one point.
“We show personality in the second half like we have to show personality more throughout the game, so we have to clean some stuff up,” O’Sullivan said. “We’re a little bit of a work in progress.”
Although still early in the season, O’Sullivan compared this year’s squad to one from 2021, who also had a slow start to the year but ended up with a deep NCAA Tournament run.
“In 2021 I think we started, I want to say it was 1-2-1, and we went to the Elite Eight,” O’Sullivan said. “It was a group at the beginning that just had not much to them in terms of the personality, but as the season went, we grew into the team we wanted to be.”
Feature image courtesy of CPP Athletics
