The Stan State Warriors men’s team hosted #22 Cal Poly Pomona in the second half of a Senior Day doubleheader. The women’s team defeated Pomona 2-0 ahead of the men’s match, and now the pressure was on for the men to do the same.

Related: Women’s Recap

Stan State entered the night with a record of 6-4-4 while Pomona was 8-1-5 heading into the match. 

After a ceremony honoring their seniors, Daniel Avalos, Marco Carbajal, Edgar Castaneda, Elio Corral, Alecxander Cuellar, Leonardo Muniz, Alexis Ramirez, and Ryan Rosas, the game got underway. 

Warriors Starting XI: Angel Ruiz-Hernandez, Alexis Ramirez, Marco Carbajal, Jose Ponce, Alecxander Cuellar, Edgar Castaneda, Landon Leal Ruiz, Adrian Yepez, Elio Corral, George Riberal, Sammy Villanueva  

Broncos Starting XI: Luke Graciduenas, Noah Ko, Fin Jackson, Daniel Gutierrez, Jakob Singh, Woody Angell, Max Laguna, Mauro Rafael, Joseph Spencer, Sam Lena, Jasper Winslow

The Warriors’ goalkeeper, Angel Ruiz-Hernandez, got tested by the Broncos’ offense early. He was forced to make a big save just four minutes into the match, denying Jakob Singh from point-blank range.

Both teams came out with high-flying offense. Pomona was generating the better chances early, but Stan State was sticking with them. The Broncos were awarded a penalty following a collision on the edge of the box and Max Laguna stepped up for the shot. He beat Ruiz-Hernandez, shooting it to the bottom-right corner, making it 1-0 for the visiting side. That goal ended the Warriors’ shutout streak of three straight games of not conceding a goal.

Singh was shooting regularly for the Broncos, as he had five shots, three of which were on target, halfway through the first half. 

Corral got the Warriors on the board with an equalizer in the 29th minute off of an assist from Ramirez, making it 1-1. Cuellar nearly gave the Warriors the lead late in the first half, as he hit the post off of a free kick in the 37th minute.

Ultimately, the score would remain tied heading into halftime. The Broncos were peppering Ruiz-Hernandez with shots, forcing him to make five saves in the first half. Meanwhile, the Warriors had three shots on target of their own, two of which were saved. 

Sammy Villanueva was shown a yellow card just minutes into the second half, marking the first booking of the doubleheader. The game was quickly getting much more physical, as each team knew the next goal would likely decide the outcome.

Jose Ponce blocked a shot near the goal line, preventing a Pomona go-ahead goal in the 55th minute. In the 60th minute, Corral had an opportunity to give the Warriors the lead once again, but the shot went well over the net.

Pomona was maintaining quite a bit of pressure early in the half, but as it progressed, Stan State started regaining control and generating offense. A scramble in front of the goal in the 73rd minute nearly allowed the Warriors to take the lead. They had multiple opportunities inside the box, but they were blocked until a shot eventually went out of play. 

Aleksandr Somov was shown Pomona’s first yellow card of the night in the 75th minute. At this point in the game, it seemed as if momentum was firmly in the Warriors’ favor. Time was quickly running out though, so they needed to find a way to score sooner rather than later.

Ruiz-Hernandez came out to break up an attack and tripped up the Pomona attacker. As a result, he was shown a red card and Justin Aparicio had to take over in goal while the Warriors were down to ten men. With less than 12 minutes remaining, it seemed Stan State’s goal quickly shifted from trying to get a go-ahead goal to trying to maintain the draw.

At least, that’s what you would think would happen. Instead, Stan State kept fighting for that second goal. They were generating quite a bit of offense in the 80th minute, nearly taking the lead a couple of times. In the 82nd minute, Aparicio was forced to make a save on Woody Angell before Somov’s follow-up chance went out of play for a goal-kick.

A collision at midfield saw Villanueva get his second yellow card of the night, meaning he was sent off and Stan State would have to finish the last four and a half minutes with only nine players. As Villanueva came off the pitch, he checked on the injured Bronco, Max Laguna, in a sign of sportsmanship.

Ramirez was given a warning for time wasting with three and a half minutes remaining much to the dismay of the Broncos’ coaching staff. Landon Leal Ruiz was shown a yellow card a few seconds later.

The Warriors would hold on and maintain the draw, getting one point against the Broncos. In a game that could’ve easily gone either way, things quickly got chaotic. As the Warriors fight for a playoff berth, every point is going to matter.