Box Score
HAYWARD, Calif. -- Sophomore Greg Piechota gave new meaning to the phrase "Trick or Treat" on the day before Halloween, scoring his first-career hat trick to give Cal State Dominguez Hills a 3-0 treat against host Cal State East Bay, clinching the fourth and final berth in the upcoming CCAA Conference Tournament with the win.
The Toros needed just six minutes to get on the board in the first half. Piechota scored the eventual game winner in the 7th minute after Andrew Marinez played a ball to him in the left corner. Piechota then curled his shot from 25 yards just inside of the far post to beat East Bay freshman keeper Cesar Villa, who had already faced five Dominguez shots.
The barrage of shots continued as the Toros dominated possession, rarely leaving the Pioneer end in the opening frame. Piechota notched his second goal less than four minutes later. Finding himself free in the box and drawing Villa out, Piechota ripped a shot from 10 yards into the open net to give Dominguez Hills a 2-0 lead.
Piechota completed the hat trick four minutes later, after receiving a near-perfect long cross from Marco Pulido on the right flank. The cross from nearly 40 yards out found Piechota on the far post where he headed it home for his third goal of the match and fifth of the season, giving the Toros a 3-0 lead with almost 30 minutes remaining in the opening frame.
The Pioneers struggled to maintain possession, but had one quality chance in the opening half. After winning a ball in the CSUDH end, freshman midfielder Chris Prado blasted a shot but sent it straight to Toro keeper Markus Dickerson, who made the save to keep East Bay scoreless.
All told, Dominguez Hills notched 21 shots in the first half, keeping Villa and his backline busy. The Hayward native made seven saves on the Toros' 10 shots on goal in the first frame and got help from the defense who blocked another five strikes.
The second half saw the Pioneers notch three shots, tripling their first-half output. Dickerson needed three saves in the match to maintain the blanking, while Villa finished the match with a career-high 12 stops on the Toros' 31 shots. Piechota paced all players with 10 shots, while Lynum-Young led East Bay with two strikes.
Cal State Dominguez Hills, winners of seven-straight and now 13-5-1, 10-4-1 CCAA, will close out its regular season on Sunday at UC San Diego, before competing against an opponent to be determined in next week's CCAA Championship Tournament, hosted by Cal State Stanislaus.
(Courtesy CSUEB)
