TURLOCK, Calif. – Cal State East Bay men's soccer earned a hard-fought draw against the No. 2 team in the country on Friday afternoon, tying Stanislaus State 2-2 at Warrior Stadium. The result moved the Pioneers to 2-3-2 overall and 0-0-1 in CCAA play, while the Warriors went to 6-0-1 and 0-0-1.
The Pioneers wasted little time getting on the board, scoring the 21st minute when Alejandro Zarate ripped a shot from 35 yards out over the leaping goalkeeper. Zarate received a pass from Franco De Luna, took a couple touches around a defender and launched his shot for his team leading 3rd goal of the season. Goalkeeper Adan Corona kept the Warriors off the board in the first half, making two key saves to preserve the advantage at the break.
Stanislaus State equalized shortly after halftime when Sebastian Carbajal scored in the 50th minute. East Bay responded just six minutes later to take another lead. Kiichi Murakami finished with a shot inside the near post off a setup from Zarate in the 57th minute.
The Warriors once again had an answer, leveling the match at 2-2 in the 61st minute on a strike from Samuel Villanueva. From there, both teams pushed for the winner, with chances on each end. Murakami nearly notched a brace late in the match with a shot from inside the box but the Stanislaus keeper made the key stop.
East Bay finished with 11 shots—eight of them on target—compared to 22 for the Warriors. Murakami led the attack with four shots and three on goal, while Zarate contributed three shots and a goal. Corona totaled six saves in a strong performance between the posts.
Cal State East Bay is back in action Sunday afternoon when they take on UC Merced at 2:00 pm.
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