POMONA – The 2023 renewal of the long-standing men's soccer rivalry between Cal State San Bernardino and Cal Poly Pomona was barely under way Saturday night when lightning struck in front of 550 fans at Kellogg Stadium.
Not a bolt from the sky but a goal scored by the Broncos' Paul Roger Henschke just 79 seconds into the match with assists by Mads Fredriksen and Cesar Rubalcava. It was Henschke's fifth goal of the season to go with five assists.
The balance of the match was highly competitive but resulted in no further scoring. The Yotes, in losing their first match of the season, are now 3-1-2 heading into their CCAA conference opener with Sonoma State on Friday, Sept. 29. The Broncos improved to 4-0-2.
Since conference rules state that each member plays one conference match against a CCAA opponent, travel partners like CPP and CSUSB are permitted to play a second match that does not count in the standings prior to conference play.
The victory by the Broncos brought their all-time series records even closer. CSUSB leads the series 27-25 with 11 ties. It was the third straight win for the Broncos.
Stung by the sudden early goal, the Yotes played solid defense for the remainder of the match with goalkeeper Aiden Haines not needing to save any shots on goal because there were no other serious attempts by the Broncos.
Travis Babineau had the Yotes' only shot on goal. It came in the 33
rd minute of the first half and it was collected by Broncos keeper Luke Garciduenas who earned the shutout. CSUSB accounted for six shots in the match, only one on goal. Cal Poly Pomona had 12, nine in the second half that required no action by the keeper.
The Yotes'
Nicklaus Sullivan, the CCAA co-leader in assists with 5, was sent off with a red card in the 86
th minute and will miss the team's CCAA opener with Sonoma State. Pomona's Melvyn Perez Cortez received a yellow in the same incident. In all, eight yellow cards were handed out by officials, four to each side.
UP NEXT: The Yotes go on the road for their first two matches of the CCAA conference schedule – on Friday, Sept. 29, at Sonoma State, starting at 12:30 p.m. The team remains in the north for a match at Cal Poly Humboldt at 11:30 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 1. You can catch the game on the CCAA Network at
ccaanetwork.com.
To view the full CSUSB men's soccer schedule, click HERE.
