SALT LAKE CITY – The Cal State East Bay men's soccer team kicked off the 2019 campaign with a tough 2-0 neutral site defeat at the hands of the Fort Lewis Skyhawks Friday at Dumke Field.
 
East Bay falls to 0-1 on the season as Fort Lewis finished with a staggering 25-9 shot advantage over the Pioneers. The Skyhawks attempted 16 shots in the second half alone.
 
But sophomore goalie Juan Diego Escalante was up to the challenge as he racked up a career best eight saves. His eight saves on Friday afternoon accounted for more than his 2018 total.
 
Despite the Pioneers accumulating nine shots for the match, true freshman Josh Gaeckle was very aggressive offensively as he attempted a career high five shots with two shots coming on goal. No other Pioneer attempted more than one shot.
 
Sophomore forward Jacob Castro was the only other Pioneer to conclude the season opener with a shot at the Skyhawk's goal.
 
Zack Mason and Victor Aguila each registered a shot attempt in the contest.  
 
After Fort Lewis got the scoring started in the 25th minute when Ty Lang put in a goal from Marshall Metzger the Pioneer defense would hold firm throughout the game. East Bay would keep the Skyhawks off the scoreboard until the 87th minute of action when Hakeem Rabiu scored the final goal of the afternoon.
 
The Pioneers will look to bounce back from Friday's season opening loss when the wrap up their weekend in Salt Lake City with a 12:30 p.m. (PT) match against the Westminster Griffins.