HAYWARD — They believed.
 
The Stanislaus State women's soccer team earned its second consecutive and ninth overall appearance to the California Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament on the last day of the regular season Thursday with a 2-0 shutout victory over second-place Cal State East Bay at Pioneer Stadium.
 
The Warriors (8-6-3, 5-3-3 CCAA) were in a must-win situation Thursday in order to qualify. The Pioneers (9-5-3, 6-4-2 CCAA) entered the day with their spot in the CCAA Tournament sewn up and looking for a first-round bye with a win. Stanislaus State answered with its 11th shutout of the season – one shy of the program record – and its second win over the Pioneers in six weeks.
 
"We battled for 90 minutes today and it paid off," said Stanislaus State head coach Gabriel Bolton. "Both goals and our defending were all about effort and believing in ourselves and each other."
 
Midway through the season, the Stan State women's soccer team took on the moniker, "Believe," from the popular soccer-focused show, "Ted Lasso." Signs saying "Believe," mimicking the same sign from the show's first episode, were made into flyers all around the coaching offices and into t-shirts for the team to wear. And now, for their efforts Thursday, the Warriors have earned the No. 6 seed another trip back to Hayward and Pioneer Stadium on Sunday to face No. 3-seed Cal State East Bay in the first round of the CCAA Tournament. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. Fans can find all live coverage links on WarriorAthletics.com.
 
The game was a scoreless deadlock for nearly 60 minutes until the Warriors finally broke through in the 58th minute. Cal State East Bay had just sent the ball out of bounds from a Stan State attack. Abby Martinez threw it into Taylor Lucas, who turned, dribbled, then popped the ball high in the air towards the center of the box. CSUEB's goalkeeper came out to try and corral the bouncing ball, but it bounced just six inches too high for her to reach, slipping through her grip and going behind her, where Julia Cummings was charging in. She collected it, took a touch, and fired it into an open net for the 1-0 lead.
 
The Warriors' defense continued to lock down the Pioneers' offensive pressure, even pulling them offsides six times in the game. Stanislaus State got an insurance goal in the 79th minute off a corner kick. Skyler Hoy sent the corner to the front of the net in the middle, where a Cal State East Bay defender accidentally tapped it right into the net for an own goal and a 2-0 Warriors lead.
 
"Our individual and collective defending was absolutely outstanding today," Bolton said. "East Bay has some very talented forwards and we did a great job against them.
 
"I'm so proud of our team. We pride ourselves in being in the post-season on a regular basis. We had to play the top-three teams in the CCAA in our last three games and win two out of three to get there this season. That's no easy task and we did it."