Scoring summary

FRESNO, Calif. – The Cal State East Bay water polo team posted a 12-6 win over Fresno Pacific on Friday afternoon to extend its winning streak to three games. The Pioneers (9-7) saw five players score in their second consecutive win over the Sunbirds.

Sophie Armstrong opened scoring two minutes into the game, putting the Pioneers up 1-0. Though the Sunbirds answered back a minute later, East Bay finished out the first quarter with back-to-back goals, including a 6-on-5 score, to give the Pioneers a 3-1 lead after one period.

In the lowest scoring quarter of the game, Fresno Pacific cut the lead back to just one, 3-2, before East bay capped the scoring with a 6-on-5 goal from Erica Crain to take a 4-2 advantage into the half.

The Pioneers broke the game open in the third period, out-scoring the Sunbirds, 4-2 in the quarter. Pierce notched her third goal of the game at the 7:30 mark and made it a 6-2 game with her second straight 6-on-5 goal with 5:50 remaining. The Sunbirds ended a five-minute scoring drought with a goal with 5:17 left that cut the lead to three. East Bay regained the four-goal advantage thanks to a score from Kate McAfee with 3:33 left to play in the period. After nearly three minutes of calm, a flurry of activity came in the final minute of the quarter, as FPU got its third goal of the game from Nicolette Haley to pull back within three. Pierce answered right back, however, scoring with just 32 seconds left in the quarter to put East Bay up 8-4 going into the fourth.

The Pioneers opened the quarter with back-to-back goals from McAfee and Sara Hudyn to push their lead to six goals, 10-4 with 5:37 to play. Though the Sunbirds cut that lead back to five with a goal with just over four minutes remaining, East Bay answered with back-to-back goals, including a penalty shot goal from Pierce and Hudyn's second score of the game to take a 12-5 lead and seal the victory with just over a minute left to play. The Sunbirds scored one final goal with seven seconds remaining but it was too late, handing East Bay the 12-6 win.

Pierce finished the game with six goals to lead all players, while Hudyn and McAfee each added a pair. Crain and Armstrong also notched a goal apiece to round out scoring for East Bay. Haley led the Sunbirds with three goals. Jayme Pekarske helped East Bay hold an opponent under seven goals for the third time this season with 11 saves in the win.

Cal State East Bay will head to Bakersfield tomorrow for the Roadrunner Invitational. The Pioneers are set to meet Cal State Bakersfield and Hartwick on Saturday before taking on La Verne and Brown on Sunday. The Pioneers and Roadrunners will open the tournament tomorrow at 1 p.m. at Hillman Aquatic Center in Bakersfield.

Scoring Summary

CSUEB: 3 1 4 4 = 12
FPU: 1 1 2 2 = 6

Goals
CSUEB: Pierce 6, Hudyn 2, McAfee 2, Armstrong, Crain
FPU: Haley 3, Hicks, Loper, Mortimer

Saves
CSUEB: Pekarske 11