What’s on tap: The Bronco cross country teams were
 idle last week and and resume their seasons Saturday at Cal State San Bernardino. That meets bears importance as the Coyotes are the host for the CCAA Championships on Oct. 25.

Nicely done Tiffany: Senior Tiffany Turner (La Crescenta) already has accomplished a first in her Bronco career. Turner finished ninth at the UC Irvine Invitational and owns two top-10 finishes in as many meets after placing 10th at Cal State Fullerton. Her best finish last season was 12th at the University of Redlands Invitational.
            For her efforts, she was named CCAA Cross Country female runner of the week Sept. 8.

Two-for-two for Najera: For two straight weeks, sophomore Michael Najera (Los Angeles) has led the Bronco men.
Najera, who was the season’s opening CCAA male cross country athlete of the week Sept. 1, finished 25th at UC Irvine.
For complete XC results, please go to www.broncoathletics.com and click on the cross country link.

What’s on tap: The Broncos (2-3 overall, 0-2 CCAA) head to Northern California this weekend with a pair of contests against Chico State (Friday) and Cal State Stanislaus (Sunday). The Broncos, just like the women’s team, play four straight on the road and eight of their next 11 away from Kellogg Field.

Get your kicks: Despite outshooting their opponents by more than a 2:1 ratio (52-24), the Broncos have had difficulty scoring. Through five games, Cal Poly Pomona has been shut out twice and has been limited to just one goal in two other games. Senior Aaron Borja (Upland) leads the team in goals with two, while senior Eric Gonzalez (Huntington Park) leads in assists with two.

First-half defense: The Broncos have allowed just one goal in the first half through their six games. CSULA earned its game winner with a goal in the 34th minute Sunday.

Lots of playing time: Coach Paul Caligiuri is a big believer in utilizing each player on his team and the numbers show it. Twenty-five players have earned minutes for the Broncos this season and 13 have played in each of the five games. They are: Borja, Gonzalez, Rigo Cardenas, Luis Garcia, Tyler Reinhart, Marc Glogowsky, Wayne Kao, Kevin Jin, Tommy Smith, Nathan Braunwalder, Justin Valashinas, Kevin Ramirez, and Thomas Ryan.

About Cal State San Bernardino: Senior Aaron Borja (Upland) provided Cal Poly Pomona’s only highlight Wednesday with a first-half goal, but Cal State San Bernardino scored four times in the second half and handed the Broncos a 4-1 loss in the California Collegiate Athletic Association men’s soccer opener.
            Borja scored just four minutes into the contest on a feed from teammates Eric Gonzalez (Huntington Park) and Hector Quevedo (Pomona). It was Borja’s second goal of the season in as many games as he gave the Broncos a 1-0 win over Notre Dame de Namur on Friday.
            Obi Agwu scored twice for the Coyotes (1-2 overall, 1-0 CCAA) and teammates Julian Garcia and Jeremiah Marquez scored the other goals. Marquez’ shot came with just 11 seconds remaining in the contest.

About Cal State Los Angeles: An even-played game Sunday afternoon turned its way in favor of Cal State Los Angeles, which defeated Cal Poly Pomona 1-0 in a California Collegiate Athletic Association men’s soccer game at Kellogg Field.
            The Golden Eagles’ Kristian Gaustad scored on a feed from Federico Cino at the 34th minute and the goal turned out to be the game-winner. Gaustad worked free in front of the net and connected from Cino with a shot that went high above Bronco goal keeper Brad Jones (Redondo Beach) and crossed the line.
            “We play in a very competitive league where one goal truly can make a difference,’’ said a disappointed Cal Poly Pomona coach Paul Caligiuri. “They created a break and we weren’t fortunate to get one back. It was a hard-fought game like they all are against these guys. Both teams played a tough contest.’’
            Jones earned the start for the Broncos and allowed just one shot on goal. Junior Thomas Ryan (El Cajon) replaced Jones in the second half and had one save.
            Both teams totaled four shots apiece and each team had seven fouls.
            The loss drops Cal Poly Pomona to 2-3 overall and 0-2 in the CCAA, while the Golden Eagles improved to 4-0-1 and 1-0-1.

What’s on tap: Cal Poly Pomona (4-1-1 overall, 1-1 CCAA) embarks on its most difficult stretch of road games this season when it travels north to Chico State and Cal State Stanislaus on Friday and Sunday. The Broncos play their next four games on the road and eight of their next 11 are all away from Kellogg Field. The Broncos take on the defending CCAA champion Wildcats on Friday, then face Cal State Stanislaus on Sunday.

Underclassmen power: It’s interesting to note that of CPP’s 14 goals scored this season, 12 have come from underclassmen. Sophomore Britany Garrett (Lakewood) leads the team with four and junior Mary Carroll (Upland) is close behind with three. All told, seven different players have scored goals for coach Isabelle Harvey’s squad. Senior Pamela Leyva (Indio) and sophomore Jennifer Lu (Foster City) each has scored twice.

Strength in the nets: The Broncos featured a 1-2 punch last season in the  nets with Amanda Cunningham (Riverside) and Nakisha Gutierrez (Chino Hills) earning the starts for the 2007 squad. Through six games this season, Gutierrez owns a 3-1-1 record and Cunningham earned her first start of the season against Western Oregon and earned a 1-0 shut-out victory.

About Cal State San Bernardino: Three second-half goals by Cal State San Bernardino were the difference in the 3-2 Cal Poly Pomona loss in the California Collegiate Athletic Association opener for both teams Sept. 10.
            The Broncos led 1-0 at halftime, thanks to freshman Valerie Strawn (Chino), who scored with an assist credited to freshman Kailah Martin (Fountain Valley) at the 12-minute mark.
            But in the final 45 minutes, Lindsey Jordan scored twice and Krista Kerr added another for the Coyotes in a 28-minute span for the difference.
            Senior Pamela Leyva (Indio) scored the final goal with an assist from sophomore Bethany Meichsner (Redlands) at the 85-minute mark.
            Junior Nakisha Gutierrez (Chino Hills) had one save on four shots on goal.

About Western Oregon: Britany Garrett personally out-shot the entire Western Oregon team Sept. 12, but the Lakewood sophomore delivered the game-winning goal by using her head.
            At the 60-minute mark, Garrett found herself on the receiving end of a corner kick from junior Andrea Salerno (Chino Hills). She got to the ball and promptly placed a header that got past Wolves goal keeper Brittney Rigtrup and the Broncos earned a 1-0 nonconference victory at Kellogg Field.
            Garrett totaled seven shots on the day as the Broncos outshot Western Oregon, 16-3. Senior Pamela Leyva (Indio) had three shots and junior Cody McClure (Anaheim Hills) had two for coach Isabelle Harvey’s squad.
            Junior Amanda Cunningham (Riverside) earned her first start of the season and she delivered with a shutout. She turned back just one shot in her 90 minutes of play.

About Cal State Los Angeles:  Sophomore Brittany Seaman (Walnut) broke free from the pack at the 56th minute Sept. 14 and fired a well-placed kick past Cal State Los Angeles goal keeper Heather Emswiler and the Broncos went on to defeat the visiting Golden Eagles 1-0 in California Collegiate Athletic Association women’s soccer.
            The unassisted goal was Seaman’s first of the season and was her only shot of the day.
            The Broncos out-shot the Golden Eagles 10-6 and posted six shots on goal against Emswiler.
            Junior Nakisha Gutierrez (Chino Hills) earned the start at goal keeper and earned her second shutout of the season. She had two saves on the afternoon and improved her record to 3-1-1.

What’s on tap: The Broncos (5-2 overall, 2-0 CCAA) open their 2008 home schedule this weekend with matches against Cal State Stanislaus (Friday) and Chico State (Saturday). The Warriors are 3-7, 0-2 and face San Francisco Academy of Art on Wednesday. The Wildcats (8-4, 1-1) split their matches against Sonoma State (L) and Humboldt State (W) last weekend.

CCAA Athlete of the week nominee: Senior Anne-Marie Hofmans is playing her finest volleyball in career and she has the stats to prove it. The Glendora native leads the team in kills (85) and in total attacks (251). She posted a career-high 18 kills in the victory over the Otters and has reached double digits in kills in five of the Broncos’ seven matches this season. Her previous career best in kills was 16 earlier this season vs. Nebraska-Kearney.

Broncos ranked No. 24: Cal Poly Pomona remains in the AVCA Division II Coaches Top 25 Poll for the third straight week. The Broncos are No. 24 this week (Sept. 15), dropping one spot from last week’s poll. It’s the second straight week the Broncos have dropped a notch. They opened at No. 22 on Sept. 1 and dropped to No. 23 last week. The Broncos received 110 votes and are one of four CCAA schools in this week’s poll.

Cal State San Bernardino (9-0) holds the nation’s top spot with 29 first-place votes. Cal State L.A. (9-0) jumped from No. 21 to No. 15 this week. UC San Diego dropped from No. 15 to No. 18 and Chico State dropped out of the poll. The Wildcats received 27 votes.

Countdown to 300: Bronco coach Rosie Wegrich earned Bronco victories No. 297 and 298 this past weekend. The fifth-winningest active coach in Division II holds a career mark of 627-446-10 in her 34 years of coaching. She is 298-187 at CPP. In her other coaching stints, she was 258-229-9 at Arizona (1977-91) and 71-30-1 at Minnesota (1975-76).

About San Francisco State: Senior Jenna Young (Arcadia) produced in a big-time way Friday night with a .440 attack percentage as Cal Poly Pomona opened its California Collegiate Athletic Association season with a 3-1 victory over San Francisco State.
            Young stood out for the Broncos with 12 kills in 25 attempts and had just one error as the Broncos won 23-25, 25-17, 25-22, 25-21. They improved to 4-2 overall and head to Cal State Monterey Bay on Saturday in search of a CCAA road sweep.
            It was Senior Night of sorts for the Broncos as Allie Newman (Redlands) and Anne-Marie Hofmans (Glendora) contributed 10 kills apiece. They also were joined by senior Vanessa Williams (Riverside), who had a whopping nine block assists. Joining Williams in the block party was junior setter Jasmine Davis (Pomona), who had seven block assists.
            The Broncos charted 41 kills on night for a .227 attack percentage (41-16-110).
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About Cal State Monterey Bay: Senior Anne-Marie Hofmans continued her fine play this season with a career-high 18 kills as No. 23 Cal Poly Pomona defeated Cal State Monterey Bay 3-1 in California Collegiate Athletic Association play Saturday night.
            Hofmans (Glendora) added seven digs and a pair of service aces in the 25-22, 20-25, 25-20, 25-23 victory. The Broncos opened conference play with a road sweep and improved to 5-2 overall and 2-0 in the CCAA.
            The Broncos had a fine all-round game against the Otters with senior Jenna Young (Arcadia) and Vanessa Williams (Riverside) each had 12 kills. Junior Elizabeth Diaz (Escondido) had a perfect night with nine kills and no errors in 19 attacks. Senior Allie Newman (Redlands) had four kills to go with four block assists.
            The Broncos had 61 kills on the evening as they hit .279 for the four-game match.
            Cal State Monterey Bay (2-6, 0-2) was led by Rheann Fall’s 12 kills.