POMONA, Calif. — An early goal and stout defense guided the San Francisco State men's soccer team to a 1-1 tie against the seventh-ranked Cal Poly Pomona Broncos at Kellogg Stadium on Friday night.
- The Gators move to 0-4-3 overall and 0-0-1 in Conference play while No. 7 Cal Poly Pomona goes to 5-1-2, 0-0-1 in CCAA action.
- Mario De La Torre made a career-high 10 saves and allowed just one goal in the effort. The Broncos entered the contest averaging a CCAA-best 2.43 goals per game.
- Isaac Sandoval scored his team-leading fourth goal of the season, his third goal in his last four matches.
- Nathan Garcia assisted on the score, his first of the season.
- All but one CCAA men's soccer contest on Friday (Cal State East Bay vs. Cal Poly Humboldt) resulted in a tie.
Garcia passed it to Sandoval in the 13th minute, who was running towards goal on the right side of the box and chipped it right over the goalie for the early advantage.
Cal Poly Pomona had an opportunity in the 35th minute as the forward took the ball into the box, however the Gator defense came in and swarmed the Bronco attacker to steal the ball and clear it out. De La Torre, who made his third start of the year, tied his season high in saves with four in the first half to keep the powerful Bronco offense off the board.
The Gator defense stepped up again in the 56th minute as the ball bounced around in the box and De La Torre was able to get in front of it for the save. Fin Jackson finally broke through for Cal Poly Pomona in the 76th, tapping in the ricochet to even things up at 1-1. De La Torre preserved the draw in the 89th minute by making a great leaping save to his right, his 10th and final of the evening.
De La Torre (0-3-2) held the Broncos to their second-lowest goal total of the year in his second complete game of the season.
Luke Garciduenas (5-1-2) played all 90 minutes for the hosts.
"I am extremely proud of my players for the game they played. However, we are leaving with a bitter taste in our mouths. We came very close to taking all three points, but getting a draw against Pomona on their home field is not bad at all," said Head Coach Sebastian Carrasco. "Now we have to move on and prepare to play against another great team like San Bernardino."
SF State continues CCAA action this Sunday, October 6 at 11:30 a.m. versus Cal State San Bernardino. Live stats will be available at sfstategators.com, and fans can tune in on FloFC.
