Box Score SAN RAFAEL, Calif. — The soccer field wasn't the only thing that looked new on Saturday at Dominican University of California.

Led by the return of 2011 Pacific West Conference Preseason Player of the Year Pedro Guevara and playmaking UC-Irvine transfer Swap Mushiana, the new-look Penguins opened the 2012 regular season with an impressive 4-0 victory over Cal State East Bay in their debut on Kennelly Field at the new John F. Allen Athletics Complex.

The Penguins (1-0) had seven new players in the starting lineup from its Opening Day lineup last season, six from the Dominican team that lost 2-0 to the Pioneers (1-1) a year ago in Hayward.

Guevara, a senior midfielder who redshirted due to injury last season, had two goals and an assist while Mushiana had two assists and junior David Mendez and sophomore Cory Vanderpool added scores in the victory.

“Anytime you can get a 4-0 win, credit to the guys. They played confident and played really attractive soccer in the first half,” said Dominican Director of Soccer Jon Delano. “It's good when you get to see rewards of playing good soccer.”

Guevara netted the Penguins' first goal on the new field on a rebound after Mushina's initial shot was saved by East Bay goalkeeper Rene Martinez. That came at the 11:10 mark of the opening half and the Dominican didn't let up. Vanderpool, one of many Penguins who cut their teeth playing as freshmen last season, put Dominican ahead 2-0 after Mushiana retrieved a loose ball in the corner, turned, and launched a crossing pass into the goalkeepers' box.

The Penguins had three other excellent opportunities to extend their lead before intermission. Mendez and Guevara set up Kolby Mitnick for a pair of good looks in front of Martinez and, with 25 seconds before halftime, Martinez was forced to make a difficult save off a direct kick by Guevara.

“It's definitely a new team and it's getting better and it's a work in progress,” said Guevara, the team's leading scorer in 2008, 2009, and 2010. “We switched our formation and I think that suits our team a lot better.”

At one point in the second half, the Penguins were outshooting the Pioneers 15-5 but Dominican went more than 25 minutes before recording another shot on goal. In that span, the Pioneers came inches from scoring one goal and Penguins goalkeeper Erik Anderson made a dazzling diving save to prevent another.

“We were really on our back foot. We lost a little bit of energy,” Delano said. “We talked after the game about controlling the game for 90 minutes. But, if you are at this point in the season and you're trying to fine tune an issue like that, you are in a good place.”

Dominican finished off the victory when Mitnick, with a long run down the right side, set up Guevara for his second goal at the 80:57 mark then, less than four minutes later, Guevara assisted on Mendez's goal. That play was started on defensive end by Fabian Valdez-Mendoza and Sam Vella. They teamed with Vanderpool, freshman Chris Sennes and junior Jordan Rode to help Anderson net the shutout.

“For a young group with some veterans mixed in we put together a good performance,” Delano said. “The biggest thing was their mentality. They really went after it. They wanted to win. They were really hungry for this game.”

Dominican returns to Kennelly Field on Thursday to face Northwest Nazarene. Game time is 4:00 p.m.

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