With the additional of two new schools from the East this year, the championship field has expanded to nine teams. CSUEB earned the No. 3 seed after posting a 2-2 record in its designated conference games and will be matched up against No. 6 seed Salem on Friday morning in the first round. If they can advance past Salem, the Pioneers would draw either No. 2 seed Fresno Pacific or No. 7 McKendree in the semifinal round on Saturday. 

East Bay heads to Ohio with the hopes of returning to Sunday's WWPA championship game, which the team has reached four of the past five seasons, including last year. Everyone will be looking to dethrone top-seeded UC San Diego, which is ranked No. 14 in the nation and has won the last six conference titles. 

The Pioneers went 13-14 during the regular season with a record of 7-3 against fellow WWPA squads. They took on 11 nationally-ranked opponents and played a number of incredible tight contests. So far they have six victories and five losses that were decided by just one or two goals. 

Friday will be the second matchup of the season between CSUEB and Salem. They previously met back on Mar. 2 at the Indiana Hoosier Classic. They Pioneers jumped out to a 6-2 lead at halftime in that game and extended it to 11-3 early in fourth before Salem netted a few late goals to finish with a 12-7 final score. Payton Bosque and Briana Ruiz both recorded hat tricks for East Bay in that victory.

On Wednesday, the WWPA announced its 2019 All-Conference awards, which were highlighted by a historical achievement for Auriel Bill. The junior was named Co-Player of the Year after tallying 44 goals, 31 steals, and a conference-leading 46 assists. In repeating as WWPA Player of the Year, Bill became just the fourth student-athlete in any sport -- and the first since 1989 -- to win two conference player of the year awards over the 58-year history of Pioneer Athletics.

Bill earned a spot on the All-WWPA First Team with sophomore Adrien Van Dyke, who notched her second straight All-Conference nod after leading the Pioneers and ranking sixth in the WWPA with 57 goals.

Rookie goalkeeper Daniela Passoni was also recognized as a member of the WWPA All-Freshman Team. Fans can expect to see both her and senior Makenna Nation in the cage this weekend, as the pair has been splitting goalkeeper duties throughout the season with impressive results.