CALIFORNIA STATE POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY, POMONA

Bronco Sports News

For Immediate Release

Thursday, Sept. 9, 2004

Contact: Paul Helms

(909) 869-2812

 

2004 CPP Record: 1-3. CCAA Record: 0-0

 

Broncos Hope To Enjoy Some Home Cooking: The Cal Poly Pomona men’s soccer team, coming off three tough defeats on its Washington swing, will play for the first time at home since Aug. 28 when they host Concordia Friday night at 7 p.m. Cal Poly Pomona won its home opener, 4-2, over Bryant College, but then dropped all three of its games away from home. The Broncos will face Cal State Dominguez Hills on Tuesday in Carson in their 2004 California Collegiate Athletic Association opener and will then play their next four conference matches at Kellogg Field. The Broncos are bidding for their first winning season since 1999.

 

Last Week:  The Broncos completed their road trip to Washington with a tough 3-1 defeat to Seattle University, which moved into the national rankings at No. 11 this week. The Broncos jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead when Kory Felix (Sr., Brea, Brea-Olinda HS) knocked in a corner kick from Ben Van der Fluit (Fr., Calabasas, Calabasas HS) just 1:59 into the game. Seattle, though, responded with two goals in a nine-minute span later in the first half and then got an insurance goal in the 84th minute. Tim Sisk (Jr., Diamond Bar, Diamond Bar HS) and Gabriel Ward (Sr., Chino Hills, Damien HS) each played a half in goal for the Broncos. Seattle owned a 13-8 edge in shots, although the margin was even closer on attempts directed on goal: 4-3. Van der Fluit had a pair of shots for the Broncos.

 

Scouting the Opposition: The Broncos are 0-1 against Concordia. The Eagles won the first-ever meeting last season between the two programs, 4-0, in Irvine. Concordia is off to a 1-3 start this season heading into a contest Thursday at Cal State Dominguez Hills. The Eagles dropped 1-0 decisions to California Collegiate Athletic Association schools Cal State San Bernardino and Cal State Bakersfield.

 

Rankings: Cal Poly Pomona does not appear in NSCAA national rankings. Chico State is ranked No. 2 in the nation while UC San Diego is No. 21.

 

About The Coach: One of the most recognizable names in United States soccer history, Paul Caligiuri is in his third year as Cal Poly Pomona’s head coach. Caligiuri was elected to the United States Soccer Hall of Fame earlier this year and will be formally inducted into the Hall of Fame in October. Caligiuri led the Broncos to a 7-9-2 record last season, including a 6-7-1 record in the California Collegiate Athletic Association. In his first season as head coach, he guided the Broncos to an 8-9-1 record, which was a huge improvement from the 3-15-1 mark in 2001. He has a 16-21-3 overall record with the Broncos. Caligiuri is a former member of the Los Angeles Galaxy and United States National Team member. One of the most memorable moments of his playing career came in 1990 when he scored the game-winning goal – known as the “Goal Heard Round The World” – against Trinidad & Tobago that qualified the U.S. for its first World Cup appearance in 40 years. Caligiuri made 110 game appearances for the United States National Team.

 

Look Who’s Back: Just about everybody, actually. Cal Poly Pomona has eight starters and 17 players in all returning from last year’s team. Leading the list of returners is Robert Cardenas (Sr., Chino, Mt. San Antonio College) who was an All-CCAA 2nd team selection last season for the second straight year. Cardenas was one of the Broncos’ leading scorers last year with 3 goals and 4 assists. Two other starters who are expected to lead the Broncos this year include Andrew Pierce (Jr., Oswego, N.Y., Oswego HS) and goalkeeper Tim Sisk (Jr., Diamond Bar, Diamond Bar HS). Pierce had 5 goals and 2 assists for the Broncos last season and was second on the team in scoring, while Sisk posted a record of 7-7 with a 1.86 GAA. He had two shutouts. Pierce has one of the Broncos’ six goals so far this season.

 

Look Who’s New: Cal Poly Pomona is extremely excited about its recruiting class and several newcomers are expected to make immediate impacts, including one who made a big splash in his Cal Poly Pomona debut. Matthew Barker (Fr., La Verne, Bonita HS) scored two goals in his first game for Cal Poly Pomona in their season-opening win against Bryant University. Ben Van der Fluit (Fr., Calabasas, Calabasas HS), Peter Hazdovac (Fr., San Pedro, San Pedro HS), and Dustin Venegas (Fr., Lakewood, Lakewood HS) are all expected to make immediate contributions to the Broncos this season. Hazdovac has scored one goal in the Broncos’ first three games, while Van der Fluit has two assists in the Broncos’ first four games.

 

CAL POLY POMONA

Men’s Soccer

 

CPP Schedule & Results

 

8/26     vs. Bryant College                                W 4-2

8/28     at Western Wasington                            L 3-1

8/30     at Seattle Pacific                                   L 1-0

9/1       at Seattle University                              L 1-3

9/10     vs. Concordia University                       7:00 p.m.

9/14     at Cal State Dominguez Hills*               1:30 p.m.

9/17     vs. Cal State Monterey Bay*                7:00 p.m.

9/21     vs. Cal State San Bernardino*             7:00 p.m.

9/25     vs. UC San Diego*                               4:30 p.m.

9/29     vs. Cal State Bakersfield*                     4:30 p.m.

10/3     at Cal State L.A.*                                12:30 p.m.

10/8     at Cal State Stanislaus*                        12:30 p.m.

10/10   at Chico State*                                    3:00 p.m.

10/15   vs. Sonoma State*                                7:00 p.m.

10/17   vs. San Francisco State*                       12:30 p.m.

10/20   at UC San Diego*                                4:30 p.m.

10/23   vs. Cal State L.A.*                               7:00 p.m.

10/27   at Cal State Bakersfield*                      5:00 p.m.

10/30   vs. Cal State Dominguez Hills*             7:00 p.m.

11/5-7  CCAA Championships                        TBA                

 

*Denotes CCAA Game