HAYWARD, Calif. — The Pioneer water polo team will make its third trip to Southern California this weekend to compete in the 12th annual LMU Invitational, which features five WWPA teams. This is a huge tournament for Cal State East Bay (9-8, 0-2 WWPA), which is still in search of its first conference victory. The team will have two chances on Friday, as they play their second and third official WWPA games of the season against Cal State San Bernardino at 12:45 p.m., followed by the hosts, No. 14 Loyola Marymount, at 4:30 p.m.

WEEKLY RECAP
For the second straight week, the Pioneers had just one game on their slate, a conference showdown at Sonoma State. And for the second time in 2013, the Seawolves got the best of Cal State East Bay. The Pioneers went up 4-2 after one quarter, held onto a 7-6 halftime lead, and trailed 8-7 heading into the fourth. That was when it all fell apart, as Sonoma State scored five goals in the final period to pull away with the 13-8 victory.

Sara Hudyn led the Pioneers with four goals, and Claire Pierce notched a hat trick with three goals before getting her third kick out in the third. Simonne Call added the remaining East Bay goal just before halftime.

LEADERBOARD WATCH
Despite having played just two games in the past two weeks, Hudyn still has a healthy lead on the rest of the conference in goal scoring. The junior leads the WWPA with 66 goals, which is 18 more than the next highest-scorer. With much of the schedule still to play, she's already posted the ninth-most goals in a single season in CSUEB history. Hudyn is also eighth in the conference with 30 steals on the season.

Pierce is fourth on the WWPA scoring list with 47 goals. She also leads the conference with 42 steals, and ranks eighth with 23 assists. Already the leading goal scorer in Pioneer history entering the season, she is now also the all-time career leader in steals with 237. In addition, with 113 career assists, Pierce is now second in the all-time list, trailing just her current coach, Jenna Casady.

Junior Kate McAfee leads the team and is second in the conference with 33 assists. Fellow junior Allison Zell has reached double figures in all three major stat categories as well. She's posted 15 goals, 17 steals, and 16 assists, all of which rank her in the WWPA's top-30.

As a team, East Bay leads the WWPA in goals per game (10.47), and ranks second in assists per game (7.76) and steals per game (9.12).

WWPA STANDINGS
With losses to Santa Clara and Sonoma State under their belt, these final five WWPA games take on added significance for the Pioneers. They'll have a chance to even their record Saturday, but it will take the program's first-ever win over LMU to do it.

Team	W-L	Pct.	WWPA
1. UC San Diego	14-8	.636	3-0
2. Loyola Marymount	11-7	.611	3-1
3. Cal State East Bay	9-8	.529	0-2
4. Santa Clara	11-11	.500	5-2
5. Sonoma State	8-11	.421	2-3
6. Cal State Monterey Bay	6-9	.400	0-2
7. Colorado State	6-10	.375	2-2
8. Cal State San Bernardino	4-18	.182	0-3

SCOUTING SAN BERNARDINO
The Coyotes beat La Verne and Notre Dame consecutively before losing two straight WWPA games last Saturday to Colorado State and LMU. They've finished in last place each of the last two seasons, despite the efforts of Misty Vu, who ranks second in the conference with 48 goals after leading the WWPA in scoring last year. She also ranks sixth with 35 steals. Mary Jane Cooney is the team's second leading scorer (17 goals), while ranking fourth in the WWPA in assists (28) and ninth in steals (28). The Pioneers have won four straight over the Coyotes dating back to 2009.

LOOKING AT THE LIONS
LMU lost by one goal to UC San Diego three weeks ago to fall to 1-1 in conference. Since then, they've beaten Colorado State and Cal State San Bernardino, and they play their final three WWPA games this weekend. Alexandra Honney leads the Lions with 32 goals, 23 assists, and 41 steals, ranking second in the conference in the third category. Mackenzie Beck has added 28 goals, and both players have been honored as WWPA Players of the Week this year. The Pioneers are 0-10 all-time against LMU.

PREPPING FOR THE POETS
This will be second meeting between East Bay and Whittier this season, with the Pioneers winning previously 8-4 at the Posada Royale Invitational. They've won two of their last three games, including a narrow 12-9 loss to WWPA opponent Colorado State last weekend.

TRACKING THE TIGERS
11th-ranked Princeton is having an excellent season, with all four of its losses coming to top-10 opponents. Last weekend at the Aztec Invite, they beat No. 16 UC Davis and No. 13 Cal State Northridge before falling to No. 8 Hawaii and No. 7 San Diego State. Katie Rigler leads the Tigers with 33 goals on the season. Goalkeeper Ashleigh Johnson has made 197 saves and allowed 96 goals in 18 games. The will be the first-ever meeting between Princeton and Cal State East Bay.