COSTA MESA – Men's soccer battled with Cal Poly Pomona on Saturday evening, penciling in a 1-1 result in full time at VU Soccer Field. Though the Labor Day Weekend showdown saw both goals come in the first 12 minutes of the game, the game's intrigue remained with a tight tactical tussle, disallowed goals and a bottlenecked finish to hand both teams the draw. VU moves to 0-3-1, while CPP shifts to 2-1-1.
What Happened? With the return of senior captain
Sidney Dina, VU started with a fully healthy starting 11 for the first time this season. The group did not get off to the races however, as the Broncos scored within two minutes after kickoff. A bushel of tightly woven CPP passes in the midfield, produced an opening for Marvin Gamez, and whilst
Caleb Johnson saved the initial shot, CPP's Jacob Ramirez waltzed in on a stagnant VU back line to tap his first career goal to make it 1-0.
The Lions did not trail long, with the early miscue fueling three Lion shots as well two corner kicks before breaking through the Pomona net. The goal came in the 11
th minute, with the Broncos punished for casual possession at the back.
Robert Ronco raced toward a Bronco defender on the right side of the 18-yard box and picked the pocket off a sloppy back pass attempt. The graduate student raced through on goal, and curled his effort past CPP's Jack Chapman with his left boot to make it 1-1.
It was Ronco's 20
th career goal, tying him in 11
th all timewith Armando Ortiz (2001-04).
At 1-1, Vanguard's confidence only grew and though CPP kept most of the ball, the visitors had a hard time forging clear cut opportunities with their possession and furthermore felt the threat of VU's counterattacks, as the Lions posted a 6-2 shot lead for the interval. The Broncos did clock in a solid chance to close the half, with a shot from the edge of the box breaking to Johnson's right, but the freshman kept a strong hand to spell out a corner kick.
Tyler Williams and Ronco ran most of the show when it came to being on the end of chances in the second half. Williams had two looks from distance, one of which came after the Pomona keeper sprung off his line, leaving his net empty. Ronco also tried his luck from distance in the 62
nd minute, after spotting Chapman once again off his line, but his attempted lob from midfield drifted over the bar.
The Broncos also sported chances but were denied by the post and two VAR decisions. CPP's Clement Badger was at the helm of both primary opportunities, scoring what he thought was the game winner in a silky Bronco counterattack and also helping earned a penalty kick five minutes later. Both occasions were cancelled out by VAR, who rescinded the initial goal for offside and later disregarded the penalty kick claims with a handball from Badger in the buildup.
The final 10 minutes was all Broncos, with Vanguard facing a desperate wave of attacks that painted the visitors best spell.
Henry Garcia nearly flipped the momentum in the 80
th minute after a long throw from
Kevin Abarca from the right sideline. Garcia grazed the header goalward, but Chapman got down low to keep it away. CPP had the last shot of the game at the death for Gamez, who skipped past his man and cut into the box, slicing his shot to the bottom left corner. Johnson held on for his third save to secure a one-all draw.
The Lions lead in overall shots for the match (11-7) with CPP taking the lead with shots on target (4-2).
What Was Said? "We definitely put in a shift today," shared Head Coach
Jesus (Chuy) Miramontes. "Every player that stepped on the pitch was awesome. Defending, ball winning, battling is our DNA and what Vanguard soccer is about. Our guys went up against great team and could have won the game. We took 3 steps forward and our staff is very happy with the result."
What's Next? VU will try to build momentum in a rematch with CSU Monterey Bay on Thursday, September 10 at 4 pm.
