ARCATA, Calif. — The Cal State Monterey Bay spotted No. 6 ranked Cal Poly Pomona a 2–0 lead before the match was 10 minutes old. That proved to be too difficult to overcome in a 2–1 loss in the CCAA Championship Tournament semifinals Friday afternoon at the College Creek Soccer Field on the campus of Cal Poly Humboldt.
The loss means No. 21 ranked CSUMB (12–4–4 overall) now must wait until Monday and the NCAA Championship Selection Show to learn where the rest of its postseason journey will begin. Pomona (13–1–4) advances to face No. 4 Cal State L.A. in Sunday's CCAA Championship match.
Cal Poly needed less than three minutes to claim the lead when Marcus Jorgensen bounced a header home from a Max Laguna corner. The Broncos doubled their advantage right on 10 minutes when an Otter defender took down Pomona forward Paul Henschke in the box on a breakaway and Woody Angell finished the resulting penalty.
The penalty served as a splash of cold water as the Otter responded quickly with
Garrett Hayes (El Toro HS) heading home a
Janos Kömmerling free kick in the 13th minute to halve the Cal Poly lead. CSUMB kept the pressure on over the balance of the match, but the Pomona defense held and 2–1 became the final.
THE MATCH WAS OVER WHEN… midfielder Miguel Guerrero tried to curl a shot from just outside the box into the upper right vee in the 84th minute, but Pomona keeper CJ Walker was able to make the save.
WHAT'S NEXT… Entering the week as the No. 5 team in the region, the Otters are all but assured of advancing to the NCAA Tournament next week. The selection show — which will be broadcast on NCAA.com — will take place Monday at 7 p.m. (4 p.m. Pacific). Ten teams from CSUMB's region will be amongst the 40 to vie for the NCAA Division II Championship.
KÖMMERLING IS ELITE (13)… Prior to Friday's match, junior midfielder Janos Kömmerling was presented with the CCAA Elite 13 Award. The business administration major earned the award for having the highest grade point average amongst all of the student–athletes competing at this weekend's championship.
KÖMMERLING JOINS TOP 10 ASSISTS LISTS… Janos Kömmerling passed the 10th assist of his career with his free kick to Garrett Hayes, moving him up to No. 8 on the Otter career assist list with 10. His next assist will match Andrew Brault for No. 7. His six assists this season tie him for No. 9 on that list.
LEADERS OF THE RAFT… GOALS: Garrett Hayes (1); ASSISTS: Janos Kömmerling (6); SHOTS: Julien Lomeli 4; SAVES: Jack Blickenstaff 3.
THEY'VE GOT NEXT… The Otters await their fate, which will be announced at the NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Selection Show Monday (Nov. 13). The show will be broadcast live on NCAA.com starting at 4 p.m. Pacific time.
GO OTTERS!
