49ers Open 2003 Campaign at Home on Friday
LBSU Plays One More Scrimmage on Tuesday
August 25, 2003 weekly release (pdf) SEASON STARTS FRIDAY
This week The Beach (0-0-0, 0-0 BWC) opens its season on Friday, after playing in its final scrimmage on Tuesday. NAIA Tournament participant, Biola, will scrimmage the 49ers at George Allen on Tuesday at 5 p.m., before San Diego marks the start of the 2003 campaign, on Friday at 4 p.m. The Beach will then travel to Palo Alto on Sunday to take on the No. 4-ranked Cardinal for a match at 1 p.m. LBSU may have one of the more challenging schedules this year, as USD and the Cardinal are two of five NCAA tournament teams on this year's schedule.
STRONG SHOWING IN EXHIBITION LOSS IN AZUSA
The 49ers, despite a 1-0 loss to NAIA powerhouse and No. 2-ranked Azusa Pacific on August 23, showed promise in its first exhibition. LBSU outshot the Cougars 12 to 3 and held APU to just three shots, including just one in the first half. The lone goal was an unlucky break for the Niners, as a pass back to the goalie, on a reset of the offense, resulted in an own goal. Seven of the team's 11 starters were underclassmen. UPCOMING OPPONENTS
HOST BIOLA (scrim.) | Aug. 26 | 5 p.m.
RECORD: 0-0-0, 0-0-0 WCC
Quick Kicks: Biola finished the year at 11-7-2, exiting in the first round of the NAIA playoffs.
HOST SAN DIEGO | Aug. 29 | 4 p.m.
RECORD: 0-0-0, 0-0-0 WCC
Quick Kicks: USD finished last year 11-7-3 and 3-3-1 in the WCC, falling in the first round of the NCAA Tournament... USD is amongst others receiving votes in Soccer Buzz's pre-season regional rankings.
SERIES: The Toreros lead the all-time series 5-0, defeating The Beach last year, 3-0, in San Diego.
HEAD COACH: Ada Greenwood (0-0, 1st year)
at Stanford | Aug. 31 | 1 p.m.
RECORD: 0-0-0, 0-0-0 Pac-10
Quick Kicks:Team is ranked No. 4 in the Coaches Poll and No. 3 by Soccer Buzz... the Cardinal reached the NCAA Quarterfinals last year, finishing the year 21-2 and a perfect 9-0 in the Pac-10... the team returns seven starters and 19 lettermen... the match on Sunday will be the team's season opener before it takes on NCAA Champion Portland that next Friday.
SERIES: First meeting since LBSU started the program in 1998.
HEAD COACH: Paul Ratcliffe (55-34-7, 1st yr @ SU)
AT THE HELM
Veteran coach Peter Reynaud (CS Hayward ‘72) is in his third year as head coach. Now in his 22nd season as a head coach, Reynaud is 236-136-30. The 236 career victories ranks amongst the all-time top-10 in collegiate soccer history.
SIX YEARS AND COUNTING
2003 will mark the sixth season for the Long Beach State program and third under Head Coach Peter Reynaud. The young 49ers return seven starters and feature just seven upperclassmen.
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. Wiegand, a defender in 2002, will move back to forward in 2003, a familiar spot for the junior. In 2001, Wiegand led the team in scoring, earning second team All-Big West honors. Also returning are three honorable mention selections-- all-time leading scorer senior forward Abie Curry (Chico), junior defender Shanna Wender (Fresno) and sophomore defender Natalie Messina (Santa Rosa).
GETTING READY IN A HURRY
This year's schedule features five NCAA Tournament teams, of which two are top-10 programs. LBSU will open against San Diego, before traveling to No. 4-ranked Stanford on Sunday. LBSU will also travel to No. 8-ranked UConn (Sept. 21) and Hartford (Sept. 19), as well as host Big West Champion and NCAA representative Cal Poly (Oct. 5).
TOP POINT SCORERS RETURN
Senior Abie Curry (Chico) returns as the leading goal scorer from last year (8g-2a-18pts), while Allison Wiegand (Modesto) led the team in 2001 (5-2-12 in ‘01). Also returning to the front line are Kristin Travis (Davis) who has six career goals and Shaina O'Donnell (Victorville), who led LBSU in assists in 2002, with three.
READY TO BREAK VINYL
Early this season, Abie Curry (Chico) should become the all-time scorer for the 49ers. Curry already has 11 career goals, good enough for that record, while her 24 career points is just one point (an assist) shy of Kelli Barrett's three-year old record (1998-2000). Curry is also the only player in school-history to tally six points and three goals in a game.
WIEGAND IN TOP-10
Allison Wiegand (Modesto) will enter her junior season in the top-10 in goals scored and total points. Wiegand's seven career goals ranks fifth all-time while her 17 career points ranks sixth.
YOUTH IS SERVED
Nineteen of the team's 24 players will enter the season with one or less year of collegiate plauomg experience. Of those, 12 are freshmen, including redshirt goalie Tara Gotthardt (Pleasanton), and midfielders Jen Robin (Fair Oaks), Erin Empting (Fountain Valley) and Brenna LaBine (Fair Oaks).
49ERS PICKED TO FINISH FIFTH IN TIGHT BIG WEST RACE
With 59 total points, the 49ers are picked to finish fifth in the Big West Conference. This year's conferene should be very competitive, as 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). |
