Friday, Oct. 5 
vs. Chico State (5-2-2, 4-1-2 CCAA)
Pioneer Stadium | Hayward
4:30 p.m.
Live stats

Sunday, Oct. 7
vs. Cal State Stanislaus (4-2-2, 2-2-2 CCAA)
Pioneer Stadium | Hayward
11:30 a.m.
Live stats


HAYWARD - The Pioneer men's soccer team returns home to face Chico State on October 5 and Cal State Stanislaus on October 7. The game against Chico State will begin at 4:30 p.m.  The October 7 game versus Cal State Stanislaus will start at 11:30 a.m.  East Bay has played six straight road games and will be playing at Pioneer Stadium for the first time since September 9.  The Pioneers earned a pair of ties against Cal State Stanislaus and Chico State back in September.

“We're halfway through conference play and for some reason we're the only team in the CCAA who has only had one home game,” Pioneer coach Andy Cumbo said.  “Six consecutive road games hasn't been an easy challenge for us.”

On October 5, two lucky CSUEB students will win a $100 Pioneer Bookstore Gift Cards as part of Back to School Gift Card Give-Away Day.  On October 7, the Pioneers will host Cal State Stanislaus on US Youth Soccer Day.

Cal State East Bay, 1-4-2 in CCAA play and 2-5-2 overall, won its first CCAA game of the season over San Francisco State 3-1 on September 28 and lost in overtime to Cal State Monterey Bay 1-0 on September 30.

The Pioneers, who scored three goals over the weekend, are led in scoring by Florian Reppin with two goals and two assists. Chris Lara has scored one goal and two assists in nine games. Javier Martin, with a goal and an assist against San Francisco State, is third in scoring with three points. Rey Suarez, with one goal, has a team-best 15 shots.

“Our recent focus has been creating and executing goal scoring opportunities,” Cumbo said.  “We made some progress over the weekend and still expect to take another step forward this weekend.” 

One of the strengths of the 2012 Pioneer men's soccer team has been the play of defenders Timo Baeuerle, Scott Dobson, Paul Dewhurst and Salvador Mendoza, and goalkeepers Rene Martinez and Bryce Bookhamer.  Martinez is third in the CCAA with a .850 save percentage. In nine games, Martinez has allowed 1.10 goals a game with 30 saves. Bookhamer has yielded 1.82 goals with 15 saves in nine games.

“The backline and GK's remain consistent for us,” Cumbo said.   “They all put in a solid performance last weekend, and we're really unfortunate to walk away from CSUMB without a shutout. They were very disappointed with that result and are definitely motivated to not concede at home this weekend.”

Chico State is tied for top honors in the CCAA North Division with a 4-1-2 record. The Wildcats are 5-2-2 for the season. Chico State has played eight of its first nine games at home.  Matt Hurlow and Akwafei Ajeakwa each have scored three goals for the Wildcats. Chico State goalkeeper Sam Evans has allowed 0.95 goals a game with four shutouts.

Cal State Stanislaus stands in third place in the North Division at 2-2-2. The Warriors are 4-2-2 overall.  Cal State Stanislaus is led in scoring by Nolan Holdridge with two goals and three assists. Holdridge is followed by Daniel Kuczynski with two goals and one assist. Goalkeeper Clint Long has appeared in eight games with a 1.07 goals against average and two shutouts.

“We're looking forward to the weekend match ups,” Cumbo said.  “In the 2nd half of the season everyone is focused on accumulating as many points as possible. We expect two very competitive games this weekend and we're glad to play them at home.  We're much improved from the last time we met these two and we are much more comfortable at home.”