Long Beach Soccer Built into Winner
by Marcia Smith, Orange County Register
October 25, 2005 LONG BEACH – The noisy, knobby-wheeled machines already were clawing into the earth at the university's nearby construction site when the Long Beach State women's soccer team began 8 a.m. practice last week.
Seems everyone is building something these days, which explains all the heavy machinery behind the fence and all the dewy sprints and swift kicks over here on George Allen Field.
"Yes, a lot of construction," second-year Coach Mauricio Ingrassia said before jogging back to rebuilding the Big West program that never won the way it wins now.
The older players have had a season to know what it is like to start with dirt and end up with diamonds. It is a good feeling going from sucker to soccer player and goat to goal scorer, finally, after all the bus rides, zeros, muddy cleats and stepped-on souls, chasing what amounted to a scoreless tie on the best days.
The upperclassmen could tell you about last season's 6-9-2 (1-6-2 Big West) record and spooky finale, a 0-0 double-overtime tie against UC Riverside on Halloween. Knowing what came before makes you appreciate the after's sudden gold rush.
Last week, the 49ers, with seven turbo-footed freshman starters, climbed into Soccer America's national Top 25 rankings for the first time in program history. Their record is 12-4-1 (3-2-0 Big West), which puts them in a third-place tie in the Big West behind UC Riverside and Cal State Fullerton.
The 49ers, locked at third with Cal State Northridge and Pacific, need a top-four finish for their first Big West tournament berth. There's even a chance for a regular-season league title with victories in the final two games at Riverside on Friday and at home against Fullerton on Sunday. A dozen victories this season ties a 21-year-old school record.
"We aren't used to winning this much," said senior backup goalie Meghan Hartwyk, 21, of Los Alamitos, one of the team's eight Orange County players and four former Griffins.
"It feels good these days to go around places and have people congratulate you because you're on the soccer team."
At Long Beach State, basketball players always get their fame. Then laurels flow to the winning programs of women's volleyball and baseball or anything related to former 49ers star pitcher Jered Weaver, the 2004 Angels first-round pick now playing Double-A ball and driving a custom red Cadillac Escalade with white interior, red stitching and his signature accenting the upholstery and rims.
But attention for women's soccer, which existed from 1983-86 before restarting in the Big West in 1998, used to be equal to that of the club archers who fire arrows nearby.
"I didn't even think of Long Beach State as a soccer school when I was considering colleges," said freshman midfielder Hayley Bolt, a three-time All-CIF first-team player at Los Alamitos, who also visited University of San Diego, Pepperdine and Washington State.
Bolt, like other Olympics development program stars drawn here, found something attractive in building new rather than taking her place on soccer factory's assembly line.
Ingrassia, a Cal State Fullerton psychology graduate and the architect of the 2002 and 2003 national champion Long Beach City College program, had pitched his ambitious blueprints and landed the nation's 15th-best recruiting class. It was a mix of highly touted talent and buried treasures he dug out of the Pac-10's back yard.
Long Beach never before had a top 100-rated recruit. Today the 49ers field four in freshmen Bolt, Palmdale forward Sahar Haghdan and top-50-rated players Ventura defender Sara Baca and Ontario midfielder Kim Silos.
"The biggest plus is that everyone got along," Ingrassia said. "The chemistry made the turnaround work right away."
Upperclassmen hungry for victories welcomed 10 freshmen without animosity.
"We didhave to carry the equipment out to the field the first two weeks of two-a-days (practices)," Bolt said.
There aren't any egos here. Just a bunch of rookies, all new to a winning soccer team.
"Usually soccer teams have cliques or one girl who thinks she's the best, but we don't have that," said freshman forward Dana Farquhar. "We just laugh a lot and enjoy a season that's better than anyone expected."
The newcomers have pulled their weight. Freshmen have scored 23 of 29 goals this season, with Silos kicking in 10, Bolt seven and Haghdan four. Freshman Liz Ramos has started 16 games in goal and recorded eight shutouts and a 0.63 goals-against average.
Hartwyk has started one game and seen action in three. She could have left the team knowing her playing time would be limited, but she stayed on as captain.
"I'm realizing that my most important role didn't need to be on the field," she said, after the team's 2-0 defeat Sunday to last-place UC Irvine at Anteater Stadium.
After the game, players huddled around Hartwyk to talk about the loss. Then the captain led them off the field.
This week, she knew, would bring time for more building. Practice - and construction - started Monday at 8 a.m. |
