Box Score SAN RAFAEL, Calif. — The Dominican University of California men's soccer team played a physical game on Saturday but fell victim to a veteran Cal Poly Pomona squad on Saturday in a 4-0 loss on Kennelly Field at the John F. Allen Athletics Complex.

A pair of goals in each half gave Cal Poly Pomona (2-0) its second win of the week while Dominican (0-1) dropped its season opener.

The Broncos got on the scoreboard in the 13th minute when senior Jesus Mitre caught a Dominican defender off balance and connected with a wide-open Daniel Garcia, Jr. for the easy goal. A Luis Najera, Jr. goal in the box in the 34th minute doubled the lead before the half.

In the second half, a rare miscue by Dominican goalkeeper Erik Anderson resulted in another CPP goal. Leonel Espinoza played a ball to Najera, who launched a ball from 35 yards out. The ball looked as though it would sail straight out of bounds so Anderson didn't make a play. The ball instead sliced left and landed in the back of the net.

Cal Poly Pomona added a fourth goal off of a set piece in the 70thh minute when Brandon Cortez played a perfect corner kick to Ian Trantow.

"Credit to Cal Poly, they came in ready to play and beat us," said Phil Billeci-Gard. "We're still trying to find ourselves a little bit. It's not the end all but it's not exactly how we wanted to start the season either."

Still, Dominican did make several defensive plays that kept CPP from inflicting further damage, such as Manny Sandoval-Gutierrez's quick reaction in the 30th minute that allowed the Penguins to clear the ball and prevent another look in the box for the Broncos. Anderson made five saves, including a nice jumping save.

Dominican had opportunities but was unable to convert. In the sixth minute, Kolby Mitnick got deep inside the box but his touch was too strong and the ball sailed high out of bounds. In the 70th minute, Mitnick made a good run but Jose Ortega was there to get a foot in and knock the ball away from David Mendez, who took the pass and dribbled towards the goal.

"We're a young group in a lot of spots and there are going to be days we have to learn the hard way," said Billeci-Gard. "Our veterans are pouring their hearts and souls into this and we're going to keep building until we get where want to be at the end of the season."

Dominican will look for its first win of the season when Humboldt State visits. Kickoff is slated for 3:00 p.m. after the women's game at 12:30 p.m. Both games are at home and will be broadcast live at dominicanathletics.com/live.