Pioneers Topped by Cal State Dominguez Hills

  • October 30, 2009

HAYWARD, Calif. - Cal State Dominguez Hills used a goal in each half to down the Cal State East Bay women's soccer team, 2-0, on Friday afternoon at Pioneer Field. The Pioneers failed to find the back of the net for the sixth time in seven matches in their penultimate game of the season.

The two teams traded chances in the first frame, with Dominguez Hills out-shooting the Pioneers, 8-5, in the initial 45 mintues. In the 12th minute, CSUEB freshman keeper Nina Cefalo got help from the woodwork, as Dominguez Hills played a ball into the box that Cefalo attempted to clear. The clearance was blocked, however, by Toro forward Lexi Ford, who then ripped a shot at the open goal that hit the left post and slipped out of bounds to end the Dominguez scoring chance.

The Pioneers responded in the 18th minute, as junior midfielder Abby Barton played a ball into the left corner for sophomore winger Ariana Nobrega. The San Ramon native played a cross in for freshman forward Shianna Falk who stretched to tap it in on the far post but just missed. Another opportunity came in the 27th minute as freshman winger Claudia Luna recieved a ball from the backline in the right corner. From there Luna beat her defender and put a cross into the box for sophomore forward Michelle Quintero who nearly put a head on the ball before it curled out of bounds.

Dominguez Hills got on the board with just over three minutes left in the first half. After a Toros corner kick and a scramble for the ball in the box, Lauren Ruvalcaba blasted a shot that an East Bay defender knocked out of the air with her hands, resulting in a penalty kick for Dominguez Hills. Jessica Murphy took the penalty for the Toros and converted with a shot on the ground past Cefalo to take a 1-0 advantage.

The second half saw both teams continue to create quality scoring opportunities, with Dominguez Hills throwing 10 shots at Cefalo and the Pioneers matching their first half output with five shots. In the opening 30 minutes of the half, the Toros won five corners and took eight of their shots.

With the momentum building, CSUDH finally broke through again in the 76th minute. Murphy fed a short corner to Karina Jahn who played the ball back to Murphy, who fired a shot that Makenzie Pedrotti got a head on to deflect it past Cefalo and into the back of the net. The score marked Pedrotti's sixth of the season and gave the Toros the 2-0 lead.

Though the Pioneers continued to battle, they could only manage one more shot in the final 14 minutes, finishing the match with 10 shots. Congdon needed four saves, including three in the opening half, to record the shutout. On the other end, Cefalo posted six saves on the Toros 18 shots.

Murphy paced all players with five shots and three points in the match, while sophomore midfielder Zuly Diaz led the Pioneers with three shots.

Cal State East Bay now looks ahead to Sunday's Senior Day matchup with No. 16 Cal State LA. The Golden Eagles will be looking to post their second win over the Pioneers this season, after notching a 4-0 win on Oct. 16 in Los Angeles. The match will mark the final game in the Red and Black for East Bay seniors Carissa Martin and Britanie Strei, who will be honored prior to kickoff. The match is set to begin at 11:30 a.m. at Pioneer Field.