Hayward, Calif.-- It appeared Sunday's matchup between Cal State East Bay and Cal State San Bernardino was headed to overtime, but the Pioneers'
Kevin Perez had other ideas. Perez took a pass from
Victor Calderon and got it past the Coyotes' keeper with 10:06 remaining to give the Pioneers a thrilling victory at Pioneer Stadium
The goal for Perez was his second of the year, and it was also Calderon's second assist of the year. With the win, the Pioneers improve to 2-6 in the CCAA and 3-9 overall. The Coyotes fell to 1-2-3 in conference play and 3-4-3 overall.
"It was a great team effort today and I'm happy for the guys that they were rewarded with three points. Anytime you can shut out a CCAA team and pick up three points is a good accomplishment, especially against a good Cal State San Bernardino team," said Head Coach
Andy Cumbo.
The Pioneers outshot the Coyotes 10-8 for the game, but eight of those were in the second half. The Coyotes were able to withstand the pressure for most of the half before finally relenting.
Jeremy Romero led the Pioneers with three shots and is currently fifth in the CCAA with 35 in that category. Calderon and
Christian Gonzalez had two shots each.
Chris Gaitan,
Kellen Crow and
Michael Tieku each had one shot.
Adrian Topete notched his third shutout of the season and collected three saves. Topete is second in the conference with 43 saves. Coach Cumbo also praised the efforts of one of his midfielders. "
Kevin Perez made a huge impact in the second half and worked so hard for his teammates."
Coach Cumbo singled out the defense of the Pioneers and their ability to not allow many good scoring opportunities. "Our backline and midfield did a great job of absorbing pressure and not giving up anything too dangerous.
"We're excited for our next couple games as we look to continue building our momentum as we go into the final third of CCAA play," said Cumbo. Before Cal State East Bay resumes conference play, they have two nonconference matches starting on Friday against visiting Pacific Union. The match will begin at 3:00 P.M. at Pioneer Stadium.
