HAYWARD, Calif., -- The Cal State East Bay men's soccer team will open the 2019 season with a pair of road matches against RMAC opponents in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Pioneers will take on Fort Lewis on Friday at 2:30 p.m. and conclude the weekend with a game against Westminster College on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. Both games will be played at Dumke Field.
 
Mike Bielski enters his fourth season as head coach of the men's soccer program where he has guided the Pioneers to a 13-35-5 mark in his tenure, including an overall record of 6-10-2 in his first season in 2016, which marked the program's highest win total since 2007.
 
Despite being picked to finish last in the Preseason Coaches Poll, Coach Bielski remains optimistic about the upcoming 2019 season. He finally has an entire team filled with his recruits and will look to continue to implement his game plan for the team.
 
The Pioneer men's soccer team will return a host of players that played crucial roles on last season's team, including Michael Francisco Ajoleza who was the Pios leading assister in 2018 with four. Francisco Ajoleza also leads all returners with two goals while fellow Hayward native Marco Antionio Campos compiled a goal and two assists last year.
 
Returners Tyson Griffin, Tin Nguyen, Jacob Castro, Victor Aguila and Joe Takada along with Jared Simarago and Alec Hester, both of whom redshirted with injuries last season will look lead a squad filled with new faces. Juan Diego Escalante is the lone returning goalie as he finished last season with seven saves and an 0-1 record.
 
Coach Bielski is not looking to make any excuses as he incoming class carries well-deserved high expectations. Newcomers Josh Gaeckle, Kenji Nystrom, Stoil Ganev, Zack Mason, Nick LaManna, Miles Ramos, Mateo Didomenico, Tommy Flora, Dominic Lewis, Trevor Brown, Daniel di Donato, Ishmam Rahman, Cyrus Vess and Sean O'Brien all look to provide a positive impact to the 2019 East Bay men's soccer team.
 
WEEKEND OPPONENTS
The Fort Lewis Skyhawks finished the 2018 season with a 9-6-2 mark on the season with a 7-6-1 showing in RMAC action. The Skyhawks' roster will feature a blend of new incoming talent and a solid core of returners, led by senior co-captains, defenseman Ty Lang and Marshall Metzger, and redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Peter Byrne. ang has been voted First-Team All-RMAC in each of the past two seasons, highlighted by career highs in goals (4), assists (4) and total points (12) in 2018 as a junior. Metzger earned Second-Team honors in the RMAC last fall, tallying three goals and helping anchor a back row that posted three shutouts. As for Byrne, the Missoula, Montana native made a splash as a freshman when he started 20 games, finishing with six shutouts and a .857 save percentage. Bryne missed the 2018 season due to injury.
 
The Westminster College Griffins wrapped up the 2018 season with a 14-4-1 overall record and a 10-3-1 record in conference play. The Griffin were picked to finished 2nd in the GMAC Preseason Polls with the return of defender Bridger Hansen and senior forward Danny Darelli who finshed second on the team with nine goals in 2018.