OAKLAND, Calif. – Dominican women's soccer answered twice Monday afternoon, but Cal State East Bay used three first-half goals to hold off the Penguins 4-2 in a nonconference match.
The Penguins (4-3-1) finished with 12 shots and placed five on frame, while the Pioneers (1-3-0) had 13 shots with nine on goal.
Rylee Buesing made five saves in goal for Dominican, and the Penguins generated seven second-half shots as they continued to push late.
Cal State East Bay struck first in the eighth minute as Kaylie McKee played a runner long down the right side before the ball was crossed into the middle of the box for Kella Folkerts, who finished to give the Pioneers a 1-0 lead. East Bay added a second less than two minutes later when Taylor Hodges scored on a long-range shot from about 25 yards out.
Dominican looked to settle in after the early deficit, with
Brisa Navarrete sending a shot wide left in the 13th minute and
Janae Schwan adding another look moments later. The Pioneers extended the lead in the 17th minute as McKee scored from distance, driving a shot from about 30 yards out to make it 3-0.
The Penguins pulled one back in the 31st minute after a long ball into the attacking third was bodied down by an East Bay defender.
Gia Aldama kept pressure on the loose ball, screening off the defender before pushing a pass to
Kamaya Yazzie near the center of the box. Yazzie touched it on to
Guilianna McCarty, who finished from near the top of the box and beat the goalkeeper to the left post for her first goal of the season. Buesing kept Dominican within two late in the half, making a save on Isabella Ramos in the 44th minute, and the Penguins went into halftime trailing 3-1.
East Bay opened the second half with pressure, forcing Buesing into saves in the 46th and 48th minutes. The Pioneers added their fourth goal in the 57th minute on a sequence similar to their opener, sending the ball down the right side before Hodges cut back across the top of the box and slipped a pass just left of center. Folkerts finished the chance to the left post for her second goal of the match.
Dominican answered again in the 69th minute.
Gia Aldama settled a ball near the top-left corner of the box and sent a pass toward the right post, where
Bailey Nadell one-timed a shot back across goal and inside the far post for her first goal of the season.
The Penguins continued to create chances over the final 20 minutes, earning a corner kick in the 73rd minute before Schwan forced Yvette Torres into a save in the 82nd. Dominican nearly added another in the 89th minute when
Carson Warfield put a shot off the crossbar, but East Bay held on for the result.
Dominican will conclude its nonconference slate of games Saturday as it faces a conference opponent, Jessup, at Warrior Field in Rocklin at Noon.
