By Benjamin Grover, September 1, 2026
The Cal Poly Pomona men’s soccer opened its 2026 season with a 2-0 win over Biola University Aug. 27, courtesy of a Marvin Gamez brace.
The Broncos struck twice early on through Gamez, who kept his scoring streak alive after scoring three in the previous two preseason matches.
The Broncos scored the opener in the fifth minute after a free kick from Jose Garcia was redirected by Ethan Fisher and landed perfectly in the path of Gamez for a tap-in, giving Garcia his first assist for the season.
“That’s what a nine is for right, to score goals,” Gamez said. “Every opportunity I get I’m going to do my best and try to finish it.”
Gamez found himself on the score sheet again just seven minutes later. Heavy pressure from forward Efren Nunez Dominguez in the penalty area popped the ball out to Gamez, leading to a curling strike over the goalkeeper. The goal also marked Nunez Dominguez’s first assist as a Bronco.
“We like to play off our play style, working hard,” Nunez Dominguez said. “People can come in and put their work as a collective, and honestly that led to our goal.”
After the two shots, the Broncos didn’t record another shot for the entire first half.
Biola failed to record a single shot in the first half, being dominated in the midfield and smothered by the Broncos defense. In addition to holding Biola to zero shots, the Broncos held Biola to zero touches in their penalty area.
New CPP defender Frank Stämpfli credited the team’s dominance to their mentality. “The mentality was a big thing today,” Stämpfli said. “Everyone is older and I think coach Matt (O’Sullivan) did a good job to increase the team’s mentality.
The second half began with a yellow card for simulation in the penalty area to CPP forward Hector Arellanes just 30 seconds after play restarted. The call was later confirmed by the video assistant referee.
Arellanes also suffered a head injury in the 65th minute after the ball was kicked into his head from point-blank range. The injury led to a 30-minute stoppage in play, and Arellanes was carted off the field. Arellanes was left out of the squad for the Broncos’ game Aug. 29 against Point Loma.
Once play resumed, the momentum the Broncos built faded and the game became much more end-to-end. Biola outshot the Broncos 4-2 after the stoppage compared to the Broncos outshooting Biola 3-1 prior to the injury.
CPP goalkeeper Jack Chapman forced to make two safes after the stoppage. However, the Eagles lacked product in their offense, unable to capitalize in the late attack they forged, losing the game 2-0.
“We were playing for something bigger than the game,” Nunez Dominguez said. “When one of our guys goes down, we’re there to cover him, support him and do the work for him.”
The 2-0 result put Broncos head coach Matt O’Sullivan three shy of 75 career wins at CPP. O’Sullivan said he was pleased with the mentality his team showed but expressed the need to be ruthless and kill games off to conserve energy.
“I think the biggest thing I’ve got to learn from the group is when we’re up 2-0, I think we could have gone and buried it,” O’Sullivan said. “We’ve got a game in probably 30 hours from now so that’s tricky. Hopefully we can manage our bodies the next day.”
After falling 2-0 to Point Loma away from home Aug. 29, the Broncos will return home to take on Western Oregon Sept. 2 at 7 p.m.
“We’re showing a different mentality, energy and commitment to what we’re trying to do,” O’Sullivan said. “I think we look pretty good right now, when we know all the details and how to do stuff, we’ll be really excited. It’s a good start.”
Feature image courtesy of Benjamin Grover
