Box Score (PDF)

HAYWARD, Calif. -- The Cal State East Bay water polo team matched its season high for goals in a game Saturday afternoon, outlasting rival Cal State Monterey Bay by a final score of 14-9 in Pioneer Pool.

It was the first home game for the Pioneers (8-6) since Feb. 2, and the team celebrated by notching its 10th straight head-to-head win over the Otters dating back to 2015.

The game was a high-scoring affair, as is often the case in the tight confines of Pioneer Pool. The teams started the first quarter with a flurry of goals, trading back and forth until it was 3-3 less than six minutes into the game. Adrien Van Dyke scored to give the Pioneers a lead, then she beat the first quarter buzzer with a power-play goal to make it 5-3. 

East Bay started to pull away in the second period, with Van Dyke netting another goal to notch a hat trick in less than nine minutes of game time. Briana Ruiz found the back of the cage on the next possession, then Auriel Bill scored her second goal of the day with 4:39 left, and Van Dyke netted her fourth a minute later. What started as a tight game quickly turned into a 9-3 advantage for CSUEB.

The Otters got one back before halftime, then scored the first two goals of the third quarter to cut their deficit in half. But the Pioneers came back down the tank on their next possession, and Payton Bosque fired a shot past the goalkeeper to quell Monterey's comeback. Bill secured her hat trick with 1:16 left in the period, giving the Pioneers a 12-8 lead heading into the fourth. 

The CSUEB defense held Monterey to just one goal in the final quarter as they cruised to victory. In the final minute of regulation, Brooke Hodgkinson put a stamp on the win with her third goal to make it three Pioneers with hat tricks. 

Bill turned in an outstanding effort, tallying four assists and four steals to go along with her three goals. Ruiz dished out a pair of assists and grabbed two steals as well. 

Makenna Nation and Daniela Passoni split the match in the cage. Nation started and earned the victory, making four saves over the first two quarters. Passoni notched two saves over the final two periods and helped lock down the Otters in the final minutes, preventing any sort of dramatic finish. 

The victory also adds two points to East Bay's total in the yearlong cross-sport "Battle of the Bays" competition between CSUEB and CSUMB. The Pioneers now lead the 2018-19 battle by a score of 21-13, with baseball, women's track, and men's and women's golf still to be contested, along with one more water polo match. 

The Pioneers have now won five of their last seven contests, and they'll look to keep that hot streak going when they return to Pioneer Pool Tuesday evening, Mar. 12, for a 5 p.m. game against George Washington University.