HAYWARD, Calif. -- The Cal State East Bay water polo team heads south this weekend to compete in the first of four tournaments on their 2019 schedule. The Pioneers will play two games Saturday and two games Sunday at UC San Diego's annual Triton Invitational.

A seeded, bracketed tournament, the Triton Invite features an extremely strong field of teams. The Pioneers will open the weekend at 10:40 a.m. Saturday with a matchup against No. 6 ranked UC Irvine in the first round. East Bay is 0-2 all-time versus the Anteaters, with the most recent meeting coming in 2017. 

Depending on their results against UCI, the Pioneers will play their second game Saturday at 4 p.m. or 5:20 p.m. versus either No. 7 UC Santa Barbara or the host No. 20 UCSD.

East Bay is 2-0 to start the season and receiving votes in the national top-25 coaches poll. They earned a 12-11 overtime victory at Fresno Pacific in the opener, then outlasted Santa Clara by the same score last Saturday at Pioneer Pool.

Junior Auriel Bill, the 2018 Division II National Player of the Year, led the Pioneers with four goals and four assists against the Broncos and was subsequently named WWPA Player of the Week on Wednesday for the fourth time in her career.

Bill and sophomore Adrien Van Dyke each have five goals in the young season the leads the team. Bill has also dished out six assists, which currently paces all WWPA players. Seniors Brittany Smith and Maeve Flynn, as well as newcomer Payton Bosque, have all totaled three goals for head coach Lisa Cooper. 

The Pioneers used a different goalkeeper in each of their first two contests. Freshman Daniela Passoni had seven saves at FPU and picked up her first collegiate victory. Senior Makenna Nation got a turn in the cage against Santa Clara, racking up 134 saves in the win.

This weekend's matches will not have live scoring, but fans can follow the tournament action at the Triton Invitational homepage.