San Rafael, CALIF. — Dominican University of California (1-2-2) used a second half surge to propel itself to victory over Cal State East Bay (2-2-0) on Saturday afternoon. 

"This is so, so rewarding," senior Ali McNeal said. "We've been fighting for a while now. We had two tough losses against two really good teams, so this one means a lot to us — it's a big one for our team."

Freshman keeper Angelina Hert made her first of four stops in the 10th minute when she easily handled a strike from outside the top of the box. Dominican's best chance of the opening half came in the 23rd minute when a corner kick found the head of graduate student Marissa Ray who then directed the ball towards the bottom left corner of the open frame, but a slew of Pioneers defenders came together to make a team save near the goal line. Despite some back and forth action near the end of the half, both teams would walk to their respective benches knotted at 0-0 to conclude the introductory frame. 

Dominican stomped its foot down on the gas pedal as soon as the second half started, proving true in just the third minute of the half when junior Danielle Gonzalez tallied her first shot of the contest, but it was turned aside by the East Bay keeper. Gonzalez didn't stop there as she returned to the stat sheet in the 50th minute after receiving a perfectly placed cross by senior defender Kamryn Sorrick inside the center of the box before heading it past the keeper for the game's first goal. 

"I had support from my teammates so I took a shot at it and went towards the back post," Sorrick said. "Luckily Danielle (Gonzalez) was there, so I'm really glad I did it. I'm so thankful that I knew my team would have my back during that play."

McNeal doubled the Dominican lead and sealed the deal in the 81st minute after Tanya Bills sent a timely through pass towards through the center of the field and towards the corner of the box with junior Jackie Lancaster as the intended target. Lancaster graciously received the pass and quickly sent a cross into the center of the box, finding McNeal who had boxed out her defender to create an open space. McNeal took the pass off her upper body and directed it past the keeper, giving the Penguins a 2-0 advantage and the eventual victory. 

Hert secured her second clean sheet with a 4-save shutout, while the two goal scorers — Gonzalez and McNeal — added two shots on goal with Ray adding one of her own. 

Dominican will next take its talent across the Richmond bridge for a clash against Holy Names next Saturday.