POMONA, Calif. – Cal State Bakersfield broke its three-match losing streak on Friday when it earned a 1-1 draw against Cal Poly Pomona at Kellogg Field.
The Roadrunners had lost three in a row after opening the season at 3-0-1 with all three losses coming by a single goal, but they came out of that streak on Friday despite falling behind to Cal Poly Pomona in the opening minutes of the match. But the draw also means that Bakersfield is still looking for its first CCAA win under new Head Coach Nicole Van Dyke.
“The girls battled hard today, and for that I'm really happy,” Van Dyke said. “No one this season has outplayed us this year, and I'd be the first to admit if someone played us off the park. We just need to keep plugging away until we get our first conference win.”
Just three minutes into the match, Cal Poly Pomona's Cody McClure took a shot that Bakersfield goalkeeper Ashley Witten saved, but the rebound was knocked directly back to McClure who slotted the ball past Witten to take an early lead.
But Bakersfield responded before the half when Taylar Sklar continued her torrid scoring pace with her ninth goal of the season. In the 28th minute, freshman Hollie Affentranger won the ball in the midfield and sent it wide to Robin Bowman. Bowman then sent in a ball over the top of the defense and Sklar beat Bronco goalkeeper Nakisha Gutierrez to the ball and touched it into the goal to tie the score.
Sklar now has nine goals on the season through eight matches, which continues to keep her ahead of pace to break Van Dyke's school record for most goals in a season which currently sits at 17.
While Cal Poly Pomona is credited with outshooting Bakersfield 21-12 in the match, Van Dyke said that Bakersfield was all over the Broncos throughout the rest of the match, and especially the two extra periods. But the Roadrunners were unable to take a lead.
Witten finished the match with 10 saves, which equals the second most saves in a match in her career. Gutierrez was credited with four saves.
Bakersfield completes its longest road trip of the year on Saturday when it travels to Cal State San Bernardino for a 12:30 p.m. start in the first match of a men's-women's doubleheader.
