Scoresheet

HAYWARD, Calif. - The Cal State East Bay women's water polo team scored early and often to pick up a 10-5 victory over Colorado State in the first round of the 2011 WWPA Championship on Friday morning at Chabot College. The Pioneers (20-13) shut out the Rams in the first period and never looked back, getting four goals from sophomore Claire Pierce and a pair each from seniors Liz Warren and Danielle Comforti to advance to the winner's side of the bracket on Saturday. East Bay will meet the winner of No. 1 LMU and No. 8 Cal State Monterey Bay on Saturday at 12 p.m.

The Pioneers kicked off the game with three straight goals in the first period, opening scoring in the first minute with a player-advantage goal by Warren to take an early 1-0 lead. Warren added her second just six minutes later to give the Pioneers a 2-0 lead. Pierce capped the first period with her first goal of the game with less than a minute remaining. Defensively, East Bay was excellent in the first quarter, with junior goalie Jayme Pekarske making three saves to hold the Rams scoreless in the opening eight minutes.

Cal State East Bay drew an early penalty in the second period and sophomore Chelsie Bryan entered the game to convert the penalty shot and put the Pioneers up 4-0. Though Colorado State finally broke through with a goal from Orsi Nadasdy at the 4:02 mark, East Bay answered back with a goal from Comforti to take a 5-1 advantage into the half.

In a low-scoring third quarter, the Rams opened the scoring with a goal from Kallie Berry in the fifth minute to cut the East Bay lead to three, 5-2. The Pioneers responded to close out the period with a pair of goals from Comforti and Pierce to regain a five-goal lead, 7-2, heading into the final quarter. Pekarske had another stellar period in goal, stopping four CSU shots

Pierce extended the lead to six goals to open the fourth quarter before Tristan Kennedy-Donohue made it 9-2 in favor of the Pioneers. Though Colorado State cut the lead back to six with a Shelby Schaefer goal at the 3:54 mark. East Bay responded again with Pierce's fourth score of the game to take a 10-3 lead. Despite two late goals from the Rams, the Pioneers held on for the 10-5 victory.

The win marked the first in the last three games against Colorado State after the Rams edged East Bay in the final weekend of the regular season and posted the upset in the first round of last year's WWPA Tournament. Cal State East Bay also snapped a three-game losing streak that ended the season. Pekarske's eight saves helped her hold the opponent to seven goals or fewer for the seventh time in the last 12 games.

Cal State East Bay will meet the winner of this afternoon's matchup between No. 1 seed Loyola Marymount and eighth-seeded Cal State Monterey Bay. The Otters posted an 11-2 victory over No. 9 Cal State San Bernardino to open the tournament. The Pioneers and the winner of that match are set to meet in the semifinal on Saturday at 12 p.m. at Chabot College. Further information, including scores, schedules and ticket information for the 2011 WWPA Championship is available here.