ATHERTON, Calif. – The Cal State East Bay women's soccer team earned its first CCAA victory of the season Friday, posting a 2-0 shutout over Menlo at Wunderlich Field. The road victory improved the Pioneers to 2-5-0 overall and 1-2-0 in conference play.
East Bay created opportunities early, recording six shots and three corner kicks over the opening 27 minutes. The Pioneers finally broke through just before halftime, taking the lead in the 40th minute. Lily Larez sent a cross in from the left side that found Zeena Grewal near the penalty spot, where Grewal finished into the bottom right corner to put East Bay ahead 1-0.
The Pioneers carried the advantage into the second half and added to their lead in the 62nd minute. Lillian Morris put an attempt on goal that was saved before Taylor Hodges followed the play and found the back of the net, extending the East Bay advantage to 2-0.
Menlo continued to apply pressure in search of a response, but the Pioneer defense held firm. One of the biggest sequences of the match came in the 67th minute when Yvette Torres stopped a Menlo penalty kick and immediately followed it with another save on the ensuing attempt to keep the Oaks off the board.
Torres continued to come up big down the stretch, adding two more saves over the final seven minutes to help secure the clean sheet.
East Bay finished with 13 shots, placing five on goal, while Menlo recorded 24 shots with seven on frame. Hodges led the Pioneer attack with five shots and two on goal, while Grewal and Hodges accounted for East Bay's two goals. Larez and Morris each recorded an assist.
Bianca Avila and Torres combined for seven saves in the shutout. Avila stopped all three shots she faced during the opening 45 minutes before Torres took over after halftime and made four saves, highlighted by the penalty kick stop and immediate follow-up save.
Cal State East Bay returns to action Sunday, September 27, hosting Fresno Pacific at the Oakland Roots Training Facility in Alameda. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. as the Pioneers look to build on Thursday's conference victory.
