49ers Hit the Road for Two
LBSU Has Won Five of Seven
October 7, 2003 PDF VERSION OF RELEASE 49ERS HEAD NORTH
The 49ers (5-6-0, 1-1-0 Big West), winners of five of its last seven, will continue conference play this week at Pacific (2-8-1, 1-1-0) on Friday at 7 p.m. and at CS Northridge (3-5-3, 1-1-0) on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. LBSU will play five of its final seven regular season matches on the road. The Beach is coming off one of the biggest wins in program history, after defeating pre-season favorite UC Santa Barbara last Friday.
me for the final time this season, hosting Utah State and Idahoon October 17 and 19. LBSU 49ERS
RECORD: 5-6-0, 1-1-0
Quick Kicks: Dating back to last season, the 49ers have gone 5-3-3 over its last 11 Big West matches, which have included wins over No. 25-ranked CS Fullerton, last year, and pre-season favorite, UC Santa Barbara last Friday... a number of players hail from Northern California and will return to their roots when they play at Pacific on Friday.
PACIFIC TIGERS
RECORD: 2-8-1, 1-1-0
Quick Kicks: The Tigers have lost four of its last six, including defeating Idaho (2-1) and losing in overtime at Utah State (2-1)... UOP has scored at least one goal in all but two contests this season... in the team's other two contests, they have been shutout 1-0... Carmen Padilla has scored four of the team's 10 goals, with two more coming from Gabby Olivares.
SERIES VS. LBSU: Pacific leads the all-time series 3-2, with LBSU winning two of the last three, outscoring the Tigers 11-3.
HEAD COACH: Keith Coleman (92-25-14, 11th year)
CS NORTHRIDGE MATADORS
RECORD: 3-5-3, 1-1-0, host UCI on Friday
Quick Kicks: The Matadors have gone 1-3-2 over its last six contests, losing 3-0 at Utah State and defeating Idaho last weekend... Leila Pate leads the club with three goals, while Elena Alvarenga and Shannon DeVos have two a piece.
SERIES VS. LBSU: The series is tied at 2-2-1.
HEAD COACH: Mac Thompson (3-5-3, 1st year)
UPCOMING FOR THE BEACH: The 49ers return home next weekend to host Utah State and Idaho. |
AT THE HELM
Veteran coach Peter Reynaud (CS Hayward '72) is in his third year as the 49ers head coach and his 22nd season overall as a head coach. Reynaud is 241-142-30. The 241 career victories ranks amongst the all-time top-10 in collegiate soccer history. Reynaud won a National Championship with Sonoma State and has led his teams to seven NCAA Tournaments.
LAST WEEK
LBSU split the opening weekend of Big West play with pre-season favorites, UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly. Last Friday, Abie Curry took a pass from Shaina O'Donnell and tapped in the game-winner in the 97th minute to upset the Gauchos 1-0. The win in overtime was the first for the program in 12 overtime contests (0-4-7), dating back to 2000. On Sunday, Cal Poly's Kelsey Carroll scored twice in a span of four minutes midway through the second half to give the Mustangs a 2-0 advantage.
CURRY COMES UP BIG AGAIN
All-time leading scorer Abie Curry (Chico) has given the 49ers two of its biggest victories of all-time, following the teams 1-0 overtime thriller over UC Santa Barbara last Friday. Curry was also on the receiving end of the teams upset of No. 25-ranked CS Fullerton last season, sending home the winning score in the closing seconds of regulation, the schools first win over a ranked program. Her four career game-winning goals is the third record Curry has set, as she is the all-time leading point (34) and goal scorer (15). Curry has four goals and two assists this season.
HARTWYK POSTS ANOTHER SHUTOUT
Sophomore goalie Meghan Hartwyk (Los Alamitos) has posted three of team's four shutouts this season, following the 1-0 win over UC Santa Barbara last Friday. Hartwyk has five shutouts (third all-time) in her short career at The Beach. Hartwyk ranks amongst the Big West top-five with a 0.57 goals against average.
BIG WEST TOURNAMENT COMING
The conference's automatic berth into the College Cup will come from the Big West Tournament, hosted by CS Fullerton, on November 7 and 9. The top four teams in the Big West will play over two days for the chance to go to the NCAA Tournament.
STRONG LOSSES
The 49ers have won five of its last seven, with the two losses being to ranked or previously ranked teams. The Beach lost to No. 7-ranked UConn and to previously No. 21-ranked Cal Poly. On the season, four of the teams six losses are to teams who reached the NCAA Tournament last season. In three of those losses (Stanford, San Diego and Cal Poly) the 49ers kept the game scoreless until midway through the second half.
GAME WINNING WIEGAND
Allison Wiegand (Modesto) scored her second game-winning goal of the season against Weber State on September 27, firing home a pass from Nicole Cross (Cathedral City) for the 49ers' only score. Wiegands first career game-winner came against Southern Utah. Wiegand has two goals and two assists this season.
SHARING THE WEALTH
Nicole Cross' (Cathedral City) assist against Weber State was the second time this season that the freshman has set up Allison Wiegand (Modesto) for the game-winning goal. Cross joined MacKenzie Blechel (Forestville), Abie Curry (Chico) and Wiegand, for the team lead with two assists.
BACKLINE SHUTS DOWN OPPOSITION
Thanks to the strong play from defenders Lauren Doffing (San Diego), Shanna Wender (Fresno) and Heather Kindschi (Huntington Beach), the 49ers have been able to absorb the loss of All-Big West defender Natalie Messina. Since Messina went down on August 31, the defense had allowed one or fewer goals in seven of the last 10 matches.
MESSINA LOST FOR THE SEASON
All-Big West (HM) defender Natalie Messina (Santa Rosa) will receive a medical redshirt after suffering a lower left leg injury at Stanford on August 31. Messina was heading a ball at midfield, and fell backwards when the injury occurred.
EARLY STRUGGLES, STRONG FINISHES
The 49ers are 5-2-0 since starting the season 0-4-0, similar to the teams start in 2002. Last year, LBSU started the season 0-5-1, but turned around to finish 6-4-4, including 4-2-3 in conference play.
FOUR ALL-BIG WEST PLAYERS RETURN
First team All-Big West Allison Wiegand (Modesto) leads a group of four all-conference selections on the 49ers this season. Also returning are honorable mention selections senior forward Abie Curry (Chico), and junior defender Shanna Wender (Fresno). Sophomore defender Natalie Messina (Santa Rosa) will miss the season with a leg injury.
YOUTH IS SERVED
The young 49ers returned seven starters and feature just six upperclassmen. Five upperclassmen start. Sixteen of the teams 22 players will enter the season with one or less year of collegiate playing experience. Of those, 12 are freshmen.
49ERS PICKED TO FINISH FIFTH
With 59 total points, the 49ers are picked to finish fifth in the Big West. UC Santa Barbara (92 points), Cal Poly (89) and CS Fullerton (82), all garnered first place votes. UC Irvine (60) edged LBSU by one point for fourth place, followed by Pacific (49), UC Riverside (44), CS Northridge (37), Idaho (21) and Utah State (17). The top four teams will play in a two-round conference tournament in Fullerton on November 7 and 9.
2002 IN REVIEW
The 49ers (6-9-5, 4-2-3 BWC) finished in fifth place in the Big West Conference, contending for a league title with two weeks left in the regular season. After an 0-5-1 start, The Beach closed the season 6-4-4, with three, five-goal victories, the program's first-ever win over a ranked opponent and numerous school records broken. In additional, the schedule may have been the toughest in school history featuring four opponents who at one time were nationally ranked (Pepperdine, Purdue, Saint Mary's, CS Fullerton) and two others who were regionally ranked (UW-Milwaukee, Navy). |
