Scoresheet

HAYWARD - The Cal State East Bay water polo team ended a two-game losing skid with a 14-7 win over WWPA opponent Cal State Monterey Bay on Saturday afternoon at Pioneer Pool. The Pioneers (3-6) scored early and often in the victory, never leading by fewer than two over the final 20 minutes of the game. 

"We played a well-rounded game," Head Coach Lisa Cooper said. "Our defense really stepped up to limit Monterey Bay's offensive opportunities, and we got a lot of steals. I was very pleased with our intensity on offense, as well as our transition today."

East Bay opened scoring with back-to-back goals from Claire Pierce, including a 6-on-5 conversion to kick off the game. Leading 2-0, the Pioneers allowed the Otters to get one back before finishing out the first quarter with a score from Sara Hudyn to make it a 3-1 game. 

The second quarter saw East Bay outscore Cal State Monterey Bay 4-2. With 4:05 to play in the half, Pierce was at it again, scoring her third goal to put the Pioneers up 4-1. Allison Zell made it a four-goal game less than a minute later, but the Otters answered back with an exclusion goal from Jackie Walters with just under three minutes remaining before the break. With the lead cut to three, 5-2, the Pioneers responded with goals from Pierce and Hudyn again to make it 7-2 with less than a minute left. Despite the time crunch, Monterey Bay grabbed back a goal after earning a penalty just 23 seconds before the half, sending East Bay into the break leading 7-3.

Though the Otters opened the second half with back-to-back goals from Kylie Fields and Julie Cooper to cut the lead to just two, 7-5, with 6:07 left in the quarter, the Pioneers fired back with another goal from Pierce to regain a three-goal advantage. Hudyn followed with East Bay's third 6-on-5 goal of the game to send the game into the final period with the Pioneers up 9-5.

The first four minutes of the fourth quarter were all East Bay, as it got another set of back-to-back goals from Pierce and Hudyn to make it an 11-5 game. Pierce finished off her scoring at the 4:35 mark to put the Pioneers up 12-5. Though Cooper and Sydney Nguyen pulled back a pair for the Otters midway through the fourth, Zell finished things off on a high note for East Bay with a pair of goals in less than a minute to finish off the win. 

Pierce paced the Pioneers with six goals, while Hudyn added five and Zell posted the hat trick with three. In the cage, Marinna Nation came up with 13 saves and she and the Pioneer defense held off the Otters in five of their seven 6-on-5 opportunities. Cooper led CSUMB with two goals on the day. 

Cal State East Bay returns to action tomorrow when it plays host to conference rival Santa Clara at 12 p.m. at Pioneer Pool.