HAYWARD, Calif. – On Thursday afternoon, the Cal State East Bay men's soccer team opened its 2022 season. The Pioneers were victorious with a 1-0 shutout against UC Merced at Pioneer Stadium. It was the first shutout for the program since the 2019 season.
- In the 17th minute, Jacob Castro netted his first career goal with the Pioneers for a 1-0 lead. Setting up the goal was Michael Rossi with a pass from the left side, that allowed Castro to find the lower right side of the frame.
- In net, earning a 90-minute shutout was Zavier Hajdukovich, with seven saves. It was the first career shutout for Hajdukovich.
- As a team, prior to Thursday, the Pioneers last won with a shutout on September 15, 2019 when they defeated Texas-Permian Basin, 3-0.
- Cal State East Bay combined for 16 shots, with 10 on net. Aaron Farnan led the Pioneers in shots with four.
- Farnan and Castro each had a pair of shots on net.
- For the Bobcats, Andres Lua had five shots with three on net.
Cal State East Bay head coach
Mike Bielski about the play of the defense in the shutout:
"I think it's a little bit of Zavier [Hajdukovich] and him commanding the defenders to do their jobs in front of him. So they did a good job of stepping and dropping and giving us depth at times when we needed it and not letting people or players on the other team get in behind us. That's been an issue for us in the past and it's something we worked on a lot."
This coming Saturday, Cal State East Bay hosts Northwest Nazarene from Pioneer Stadium with a kickoff set for 5 p.m. It will be the first matchup between the Pioneers and Nighthawks in the modern NCAA Division II era.
