CALIFORNIA STATE POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY, POMONA

Bronco Sports News

For Immediate Release

Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2004

Contact: Paul Helms

(909) 869-2812

 

2004 CPP Record: 2-3. CCAA Record: 0-0

 

Broncos Set To Open CCAA Play This Week: The Cal Poly Pomona men’s soccer team, coming off an exciting 1-0 win over Concordia-Irvine last Friday, will open California Collegiate Athletic Association play Tuesday afternoon against national power Cal State Dominguez Hills. The game will be televised by Los Angeles-based KVMD, Channel 23 on a taped delay basis. The game will air on KVMD on Wednesday, Sept. 15, beginning at 8 p.m. KVMD can be seen on all Adelphia and Charter cable systems as well as on DirecTV and the Dish Network on Channel 31. The Broncos will then host new conference member Cal State Monterey Bay on Friday at 7 p.m. at Kellogg Field. The Broncos are 2-0 at home and 0-3 on the road so far in 2004. The Broncos are bidding for their first winning season since 1999.

 

Last Week:  The Broncos returned home after their three-game swing through Washington and promptly got back into the win column. Cal Poly Pomona posted its first shutout of the season, a 1-0 blanking of NAIA program Concordia-Irvine. The game was scoreless at halftime and remained that way until Sean Cima (Fr., Los Alamitos, Los Alamitos HS) scored in the 61st minute. Cima controlled the ball after a scramble following a corner kick and, from the left side of the box, rifled a shot into the right corner of the goal. That was one of only a few scoring chances for the Broncos, who had just four shots on goal. Gabriel Ward (Sr., Chino Hills, Damien HS) and Jeff Coombs (Jr., Palm Springs, Palm Springs HS) each played one half in goal for the Broncos. Coombs made three saves in the second half and earned the decision for Cal Poly Pomona.

 

Scouting the Opposition: The Broncos are 8-25-5 all-time against Cal State Dominguez Hills and lost a heartbreaking 3-2 decision last year in Carson despite holding a 2-0 lead well into the second half. Cal Poly Pomona has lost its last seven meetings against the Toros and haven’t won in Carson since 1997. Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State Monterey Bay will be meeting for the first time. The Otters are a new member of the California Collegiate Athletic Association.

 

Rankings: Cal Poly Pomona does not appear in NSCAA national rankings. UC San Diego is ranked 15th in the nation, but is the only CCAA team ranked nationally.

 

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 17-21-3 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 five games, while Van der Fluit has two assists in the Broncos’ first five 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                       W 1-0

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