After a long off-season the CSU East Bay women’s soccer team was happy to get back on the soccer field and register a 2-1 victory over Holy Names University in an exhibition game on August 19.

“It was amazing,” said senior midfield Ariana Nobrega. “It felt so good after a very long time to see the girls again and it was a lot of fun.”

Nobrega was a key contributor to the Pioneer attack. She attempted multiple shots and scored the first goal in the tenth minute with a beautiful shot from outside the box that skimmed off the goalkeeper’s hands before landing in the upper right corner of the net.

“When the ball came to me I put my head down got my body over the ball and just wanted to shoot it and hope it went in,” said Nobrega. “It was such a great feeling!”

However, Holy Names would not go quietly as they struck back with a goal in the twenty-second minute on a cross into the box by senior Monica Reyes that was buried CSUEB junior Linda Wik Fors.

Undeterred, the Pioneer woman continued to push forward, and were rewarded for their efforts when senior defender Breanna Baker launched a shot near midfield that amazingly went over the head of the goalkeeper and into the bottom left of the net to give the Pioneers a 2-1 lead.

The long-distance shooting skill displayed on both Pioneer goals was highly unusual, especially since the Pioneers had only begun practicing on Monday.

“I will say that the players that took those shots were experienced players, strong players,” said head coach Amy Gerace. “I can’t say we particularly practiced long shots this week, being that it’s our first week, but I will give a lot of credit to those two players for scoring what I thought were both good goals.”

The two long distance goals were enough to earn the victory as the Pioneer defense did their part throughout the rest of the scrimmage.

Despite the positive outcome there were a few things coach Gerace definitely thought the Pioneers could have done better, work effort being on top of the list.

“I was disappointed that I thought their work rate was higher this week against each other in practice then I saw the first two periods of the game,” said Gerace. “I thought we could go in harder for tackles, I thought we could play a more physical game.”

Ultimately, an exhibition game against a Division III opponent said very little about what the Pioneers can accomplish this season, however, the new players got experience and the returners got familiar with the new system.

The next game for the Pioneer women’s soccer team is September 1 against the Agronauts of Notre Dame de Namur.