BOX SCORE Sonoma State 2, Cal State East Bay 1

HAYWARD, Calif- After giving up a first half goal and trailing 1-0 at halftime, Sonoma State responded with two goals in the final 45 minutes to come from behind and defeat Cal State East Bay, 2-1, on Sunday in Hayward. With the win, the Seawolves (9-4-1, 8-3-1 CCAA) secured their 13th straight winning season and their 20th under head coach Marcus Ziemer. Sonoma also remained atop the CCAA North Division standings by points over Chico State. The Pioneers fall to 2-12-0 and 1-11-0 in conference play.

"We clearly weren't ready to play and we were slow in the first half," Ziemer said. "I was very upset at halftime, but we responded in the second half, scoring 41 seconds in, and then we controlled the rest of the game and outshot (Cal State East Bay) in the second half. You have to give (the Pioneers) credit. They were ready to play and they were very sharp and worked hard."

Despite being outshot 11-5 in the first half, it was the Pioneers that drew first blood at 31:39. Martin Medina swung a pass into the box where Andres Ponce sent it home for the 1-0 lead over SSU. It was the only shot on goal for Cal State East Bay in the first half. In fact, it was the only shot on goal for the Pioneers all afternoon.

After a spirited talk by Ziemer at the intermission, Sonoma State came out on fire. Just 41 seconds later, Jomed Tejan netted the equalizer after a pass in from Trevor Hurst out on the wing. The Seawolves continued to pepper the Pioneer defense, outshooting CSUEB 8-0 over the next 19 minutes.

At the 64:28 mark, Sonoma State grabbed the lead when Michel Arroyo gained possession of a loose ball in the box and blasted an attempt into the left corner of the net, beyond the reach of Pioneer keeper Bryce Bookhamer.

The offensive assault continued as the Seawolves went on the outshoot the Pioneers 6-2 the remainer of the half. SSU eventually led in shots, 26-7, including 15-2 in the final 45 minutes. However, Sonoma was unable to find the net again, but held on for the 2-1 victory.

Taylor Varnadore led the way with seven shots, while Tejan added four. Goalkeeper Taylor Jones gave up the lone goal, but improved to 3-0-1 as the keeper of record without having to make a save. His counterpart, Bookhamer, made seven stops. Cal State East Bay's Ponce fired five of the seven Pioneer shots on Sunday.

"We did good job controlling the game in the second half and created a ton of chances," Ziemer added. "We could have scored a few more goals, but it was good to get the win. We need to rest up a bit, but then we'll get ready for (Cal State San Bernardino) on Friday."

Sonoma State will wrap up its road schedule next weekend when it travels to Cal State San Bernardino on Friday and UC San Diego on Sunday. Following the trip to southern California, the Seawolves will return home on Oct. 28 (Cal State Stanislaus) and Oct. 30 (Chico State) for their last two games of the regular season, before hopefully appearing in the CCAA Championship Tournament on Nov. 4-6 in Turlock.