Box Score

HAYWARD, Calif. – It was an impressive season debut as Cal State East Bay women's water polo enjoyed an 11-5 victory at Pioneer Pool on Saturday afternoon. Sara Hudyn scored six goals and goalkeeper Marrina Nation earned the victory posting a first half shutout.

"I am very happy with the way we played for our first game," said East Bay Head Coach Lisa Cooper. "We had good reactions to counter attack and counter defense."

Cal State East Bay never trailed and scored eight unanswered goals to open the game. The Pioneers pulled out to a 7-0 halftime lead following a strong second quarter featuring five goals from their offense and six saves by Nation.

"Marrina played with a lot of confidence and had some great blocks," praised Cooper about her starting goalkeeper's eight-save performance. "Fresno Pacific is a good team…To be able to shut them out in the first half was due to great defensive communication."

Four different players scored in the second quarter led by Taylor Cross with a pair of goals. Hudyn completed her hat trick 64 seconds into the frame and Michelle Thornbury netted her first career goal with the Pioneers. Allison Zell scored one of her two goals in the game by cashing in on a man-up opportunity.

As a team Cal State East Bay converted 3-of-6 power play chances with Zell earning half of the team's opportunities. Fresno Pacific missed out on many second half power plays and went 1-for-9 in the game.

The East Bay defense held the shutout for more than 18 minutes of game time until Alyssa Stevens put Fresno Pacific (0-1) on the scoreboard. She was the catalyst of the Sunbirds offense scoring four goals including three in the fourth quarter.

East Bay freshman goalkeeper Gabriel Isacson appeared in her first collegiate contest and made three second half saves. FPU's Kelsie Harvey recorded six stops in the loss.

Cal State East Bay (1-0) will host its alumni game next Saturday, Jan. 25, before returning to official competition the following week.

Head Coach Lisa Cooper currently stands at 199 career wins and will have an opportunity to pick up the milestone victory when her alma mater comes to Hayward. The Pioneers will face No. 7 Hawaii on Friday, Jan. 31, at 4 p.m.