49ers Kick the Skies to Utah State, Idaho
Crunch Time Hits for The Beach as Final Five on the Horizon
October 13, 2004
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LONG BEACH STATE 49ERS
RECORD: 5-6-2, 0-3-1 Big West
Quick Kicks: The 49ers embark on their final road trip of the season, to out of state rivals Utah State and Idaho for the final time in Big West play... both teams leave the conference after this year... LBSU's next four opponents have a combined 14-32-4 record.
UTAH STATE AGGIES
RECORD: 4-7-1, 1-1-1 Big West
Quick Kicks: The Aggies have gone 2-3-1 over its last six contests, defeating Idaho 3-0 last week and tying Pacific 0-0... USU has been shutout seven times this season... senior midfielder Nicole Gooch leads the club with 14 goals, while junior forward Charlaie Harris has four goals and nine points... Gooch was named the Big West's Player of the Week after a hat trick versus Idaho... sophomore midfielder Charity Weston has five assists... senior goalie Megan Mills posts a 0.77 goals against average... Heather Cairns is in her second year after leading the program to 10 wins a year ago.
SERIES VS. LBSU: The 49ers lead the all-time series 5-1-0, winning the last five meetings, including last year's 3-0 win in Long Beach.
IDAHO VANDALS
RECORD: 8-2-1, 2-0-0 Big West
Quick Kicks: The Vandals have lost five straight since a 2-1 win over Idaho State on September 17... the last four opponents have outscored Idaho 10-1... senior midfielder Ashley Cox leads the club with three goals, while sophomore forward Alyson South has two goals... Arby Busey is in his second year at the helm.
SERIES VS. LBSU: LBSU leads the all-time series 3-1-2, going 2-0-2 over the last four. The Beach won 3-1 last year. 49ERS VENTURE OUT
Long Beach State (5-6-2, 0-3-1 Big West) will take their final road trip of the regular season when they take to the skies to Utah State (4-7-1, 1-1-1 Big West) on Friday at 3 p.m. PST and to Idaho (2-9-0, 0-3-0 Big West) on Sunday at 11 a.m. With five matches to go, the 49ers need to score some points in the standings in order to stay in the hunt for the Big West Tournament and the top four spots in conference play. LBSU returns home for its final three contests of the season, beginning with UC Irvine in two weeks. The 49ers next four opponents have a combined 14-32-4 record.
INGRASSIA TAKES OVER
Mauricio Ingrassia hit the ground running in late May after taking over for Peter Reynaud, who retired after 22 seasons as a head coach. Ingrassia built a very successful junior college program at Long Beach City College, where he won five of the last seven state titles and finished with an 184-24-8 record over nine years. Ingrassia's teams were undefeated over the past two seasons, pulling off a 55-match unbeaten streak. The Vikings achieved back-to-back No. 1 national rankings, while winning two of his final four state titles. LBCC had never reached the playoffs, or won more than seven matches in a season prior to his arrival.
LAST WEEK
If there were points for "almosts", "nearly got it's," and "unlucky breaks" the 49ers would be leading the Big West. Despite not picking up a "W" this past weekend, LBSU showed signs of turning the corner in the Big West. Against Pacific last Friday, the 49ers played strong for the third straight contest, only to come away with an 0-0 tie. The Beach took nine shots on goal but could not find the back of the net, after nearly pulling off upsets of pre-season favorites UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly the week prior. On Sunday, CS Northridge escaped with a 2-1 victory after LBSU scored off an Allison Wiegand goal in the 86th minute to tie the contest at 1-1, only to see CSUN come back with a goal just over a minute later. Senior Ashley Augenstein's goal from 25 yards out, was the first of her career.
WIEGAND SCORES MODERN DAY RECORD
Senior utility player Allison Wiegand (Modesto) took over the modern day record for goals scored last weekend with her 17th career goal. Wiegand soared past fAbie Curry's barely one-year old mark and currently ranks third all-time. Her eight career assists is seventh all-time, while her 42 career points is also third-best. Wiegand is the only player in school-history to be named first team All-Big West twice in her career and is the only three-time recipient of an all-conference honor (she was a second teamer in 2001).
O'DONNELL OUT FOR THE SEASON
Junior defender Shaina O'Donnell (Victorville) will miss the rest of the season after suffering a torn ACL to her right knee at Cal Poly. O'Donnell, a valuable addition to the lineup, appeared in 10 games this season.
NEW FACES SEE TIME
As Head Coach Mauricio Ingrassia continues to tweak with his lineup, three players saw action for the first time over the past month. Freshman forward Katelyn Quaresma (Manteca) was the first addition on September 17, followed by freshman defender Justine Pap Rocki (Woodbridge) and redshirt sophomore midfielder Laura Kucich (Diamond Bar). Kucich missed all of last year with a knee injury after appearing in 19 matches as a freshman.
ALMOST GOT IT
The 49ers after starting the season 3-1-1, have struggled to find a rhythm, at times playing their best soccer only to come up with a tie or one-goal defeat. Over the last eight matches (2-5-1), and five losses, three of those contests have been one-goal defeats and another has been a 0-0 tie. Both happened last week. In those particular four contests, LBSU took 43 shots of which 27 were on goal. Only one went in.
MESSINA RACKING UP AWARDS
Forty-Niner defender Natalie Messina (Santa Rosa) continues to make a name for herself around the country as one of the top defenders, earning MVP awards at the 49er and Bluejay Classics. She has also been named all-tournament in all three of the 49ers tournaments this season. Messina has usually flanked a team's top player, including two of the West's top players in WAC Player of the Year Natasha Kai and Big West Offensive Player of the Year Jennifer Borcich. Messina was named Big West Player of the Week on October 4.
NEWCOMERS MAKE IMPACT
A number of newcomers this season have improved the team's overall play, including transfers Elizabeth Romo and Jenny Smith; and freshmen Amanda Perry, Kelli Goes and Hilary Goldberg.
TRAVIS DISHES IT
Senior forward Kristin Travis (Davis) continues to rack up the assists, leading the 49ers with four assists this year, giving her nine in her career. The nine assists puts her into the top-five all-time, while her nine career goals (including two this year) is ninth best.
WENDER AND THE BACKLINE, SOLID
A four-year starter at defender, Shanna Wender (Fresno) has been invaluable to the 49er defense during her career as part of the best backlines in school history. This year, LBSU has allowed one goal or fewer in nine of 12 matches, leading to five wins. Over the last two years, the defense has allowed one goal or less, 22 times, resulting in 11 shutouts and 14 wins.
NOTHING BUT ZEROES
The 49ers have posted six shutouts this season, tying the school-record. The team's three-straight shutouts also set a record.
GOLDEN GOAL A SUCCESS
The team's first annual golden goal fundraiser was a success on August 20 as the dinner and silent auction raised in the neighborhood of $10,000 for the program.
PRE-SEASON NOTES
BEACH RETURN INTACT FOR 2004
The Beach will return 17 lettermen with Division-I experience and nine starters from last year's team. At the first day of tryouts on August 11, upwards of 50 players tried out. That roster is now at just over 30 players. The Beach also returns four All-Big West performers this season, highlighted two-time first team All-Big West player in Allison Wiegand (Modesto). Two-time honorable mention pick Shanna Wender (Fresno) returns to the backline, as does sophomore honorable mention defender Natalie Messina (Santa Rosa). Sophomore Erin Empting (Fountain Valley) was honorable mention All-BWC at midfield in 2003.
49ERS PICKED TO FINISH SIXTH
Cal Poly, which won the title last year, garnered nine of the 10 first place votes and 99 total points and is picked by the league's coaches to win the Big West. UC Santa Barbara (84 points), CS Fullerton (78) and UC Irvine (61) round out the top four. UC Riverside follows with 59 points, while The Beach (50), Pacific (41), CS Northridge (40), Utah State (27) and Idaho (11) round out the field. Last year five teams came within two wins of first place. LBSU finished tied for fourth place. The top four teams reach the Big West Tournament.
WIEGAND TOP ALL AROUND PLAYER?
Allison Wiegand (Modesto) may be the conference's top all-around player, earning all-conference honors at three positions during her career. She began her career as a forward, earning second team honors, before leading the team's defense in 2002 and earning first team accolades. Last year at midfielder, she was also a first team selection. She has played all three positions this year.
SOLID BACKLINE
Last year the 49er defense set records for the least amount of shots allowed (225) and goals allowed (22). |
