Saturday, Feb. 16
vs. Cal State Monterey Bay (3-3, 0-2 WWPA)
Pioneer Pool
12 p.m.

Sunday, Feb. 17
vs. Santa Clara (3-8, 1-2 WWPA)
Pioneer Pool
12 p.m.

HAYWARD, Calif. — After competing against some of the nation's top teams in La Jolla last weekend, the Pioneer water polo team (2-6, 0-0 WWPA) returns home to host a pair of games this week. On Saturday, East Bay welcomes in Cal State Monterey Bay for a noon showdown. The following day, the Pioneers take on Santa Clara in their first official WWPA game. Sunday's contest is also scheduled for noon at Pioneer Pool.

TRITON RECAP
The Pioneers traveled south to compete in the Triton Invitational hosted by UC San Diego over the weekend. The impressive tournament field matched East Bay up with four outstanding teams over the course of two days. The opener Saturday morning pitted them against No. 2 USC, who began their quest for a national title with a 26-4 win over the Pioneers.

However, East Bay came back in the afternoon and played probably their best game of the season so far, beating No. 17 Hartwick 14-13 in a thrilling game. Freshman Simonne Call netted the game-winner with just four seconds left to play. Eight different Pioneers scored in the game, including three-goal hat tricks for Sara Hudyn and Claire Pierce. Marrina Nation set a career high with 20 saves in the win.

The victory earned East Bay a date with No. 11 Michigan in their morning game on Sunday. The game was tight in the first half, but the Wolverines were able to pull away by scoring five straight goals at the end of the third quarter after both Pierce and Kate McAfee received their third ejections. The Pioneers lost 15-12 despite six goals from Hudyn, which matched her season high.

East Bay closed the tournament with another close game against Cal State Bakersfield, which has since moved up to No. 20 in the nation. The Pioneers played well, forcing 12 Roadrunner ejections, but they weren't quite able to get over the hump to grab a lead. Hudyn scored four times — once in each quarter — to pace the Pioneers in the 10-8 loss.

TOPPING THE LEADERBOARD
Despite just two wins, the Pioneers are currently leading the WWPA in every major individual stat category and boast the two best scorers in the conference. After eight games, Hudyn is far and away the top goal-scorer in the WWPA. Her 31 goals is 10 better than the player in second place, who just happens to be her teammate, Pierce.

One of the top overall players in the league, Pierce also leads the WWPA in steals with 18. The senior Aussie cracks the top-five in assists, as well, totaling 11. She's one of five players in the conference to post double figures in goals, assists, and steals this season.

The conference leader in the assist category is East Bay's McAfee, who has 14 helpers to tie her with UCSD's Jolene Guiliana. Allison Zell also cracks the top-15 on that list with eight steals.

Finally, Pioneer goalie Marrina Nation has been extremely active in net, despite playing fewer than seven total games. She leads the WWPA with 77 total saves. Of the top four net-minders in that category, Nation is the only one to play less than eight games in goal, and she's the only one to post more saves than goals allowed.

REVAMPED WWPA SCHEDULE
In an effort to level the playing field when it comes to postseason seeding, the WWPA has changed the way conference games are designated. Although teams within the WWPA may play each other multiple times during the season, each squad will play seven official conference games — one against each of the other seven schools — that count towards standings and seeding.

As it happens, the Pioneers play six of their seven WWPA contests after March 15 on the back end of their schedule. The lone exception is this weekend's game against Santa Clara, which will be East Bay's first official conference game. With the new system, each WWPA game takes on extra significance, so Sunday's showdown will be the Pioneers' most important game to date.

OUTLOOK ON THE OTTERS
Cal State Monterey Bay has already played two of their WWPA games, losing in overtime at Sonoma State 13-12, and losing at home to Santa Clara 8-6. The Otters play a Friday afternoon game against Sonoma State before heading over to Hayward Saturday. Senior Jackie Walters is CSUMB's top scorer with 15 goals to go along with nine assists this season. Senior Kylie Fields is also in the WWPA's top-20 in the scoring with 10 goals. Senior Julie Cooper ranks third in the conference with 15 steals. The Otters have used two goalkeepers, with Amanda Jennings making four starts and totaling 61 saves, and Paige Robinson getting two starts and making 34 saves. The Pioneers played CSUMB four times in 2012, winning three of them, including a 7-6 victory in the third place game at the WWPA Championships.

SCOUTING SANTA CLARA
The Broncos have already played 11 games, tied for the most in the conference, including three of their official WWPA contests. SCU, which was picked to finish third in the preseason poll, has a 1-2 record with a win over CSUMB and losses to LMU and UC San Diego. The Broncos' 3-8 record doesn't really tell the story of their season. Like the Pioneers, they've played a difficult schedule featuring seven top-20 opponents so far. Redshirt freshman Julia Peters leads the Broncos and ranks fifth in the WWPA with 16 goals, and she's also drawn a team-high 25 ejections. Junior Claire Eadington is right behind her with 15 goals, and she's the only Bronco to post double figures in goals, steals (12), and assists (13, third in the conference). The Pioneers faced off against Santa Clara four times last season and won three of them, including an 11-10 victory in the first round of the WWPA Championships.