HAYWARD, Calif. -- The Cal State East Bay women's soccer team turned in perhaps its most impressive match of the season on Thursday at Pioneer Stadium, playing through two overtimes to a 1-1 draw with UC San Diego, which entered the game ranked No. 7 in the nation with a perfect 9-0-0 record in California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) games.

The Pioneers run their record to 4-11-2 for the season and become the only CCAA team in 2017 to take on the Tritons and avoid defeat.

It was a phenomenal defensive effort for East Bay, led by the back line of Savannah Shultz, Allison Smith, Nicole Lutz, Jamie McPherson, and Janelle Herrera. The Tritons created quite a few scoring chances in both regulation and overtime, but time after time the Pioneers held tough near the goal.

The teams played to a scoreless tie in the first half, giving the Pioneers confidence that they could hold the potent Triton attackers off the scoreboard.

The visitors finally broke through in the 48th minute when Katie O'Laughlin took a pass from the corner into the goalie box and scored over Cheyanne Foster into the top of the goal.

However, the Pioneers refused to get rattled by the deficit, and just eight minutes later, they scored the equalizer. Freshman phenom Abby Buitrago found the right corner of the net from the left side of the goalie box on a beautiful shot. Aulani Fernandez got the assist on Buitrago's fourth goal of the season, which moves the rookie into the team lead with nine total points this year.

The Pioneers didn't generate much offense after that, but their defense held the rest of the way despite a 20-10 shot advantage for the Tritons. The visitors also took five shots in overtime and spend most of the second overtime period in East Bay's defensive zone, but the Pioneers managed to maintain the tie score.

Foster totaled eight saves in an outstanding effort, running her goalie record to 2-2-2 for the season. Lauren McDougal led the Pioneers with three shots in the game, while Buitrago attempted two. 

East Bay will look to carry this momentum over into the final regular season game of the season on Saturday at 2 p.m. against Cal State San Marcos. The match will be preceded by the annual "Senior Day" ceremony in which CSUEB will honor the careers of seniors Herrera, Lutz, Megan Massone.