49ers Head to Central Coast for Two
First Place Niners Coming Off Perfect Week, Return Home October 11 vs. Fresno State
October 3, 2006 RELEASE IN PDF 49ERS HIT THE CENTRAL COAST
First place Long Beach State (10-2-0, 2-0-0 Big West) will take to the road once again after 11 days in their own beds, when they travel to UC Santa Barbara (2-5-4, 0-0-0 Big West) on Friday at 7 p.m. and to Cal Poly (6-5-0, 0-0-0 Big West) on Sunday at 1 p.m. This is the conference opener for both Central Coast foes. LBSU enters the weekend winners of three straight and seven of their last eight. The 49ers return home for a rare midweek match they they host Fresno State next Wednesday, October 11.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
UC Santa Barbara has stumbled, as of late, having not won a match since September 10, going 2-5-4 overall and going 0-3-2 over its last five matches... senior Chandi Bickford leads the club with four goals and 10 points, scoring game-winners in both of the Gauchos wins over Tulsa and San Diego State... Tammy Lenham and Katie Wright have combined for a 1.00 goals against average... Cal Poly has won four of six heading into Friday's matchup with UC Irvine on Friday, but dropped a 2-1 decision at Sacramento State in double overtime last Sunday to begin conference play at 6-5-0... sophomore Ashley Vallis is the co-leader in goals with five, while senior Kelsey Carroll is at her heals with four goals... junior and former Wilson High graduate Alli Trammel has a 1.11 goals against average... looking at the series records, LBSU is 5-9-0 against UCSB all-time and 2-5-1 against Cal Poly... the 49ers dropped both games two years ago in the Central Coast and rebounded with a sweep of the duo last year at George Allen Field.
RANK AND FILE
LBSU dropped out of the top-30 for the first time this season during the final week of September. The 49ers moved up to their highest rankings of all-time on September 18 when they were ranked No. 21 in Soccer Buzz's national poll. They were No. 7 regionally for most of September, ranking No. 9 this week. They began the season No. 28 in Soccer Buzz and No. 9 regionally. They appeared in the top-25 in Soccer America and Soccer Buzz for the first time in franchise history for one week in 2005.
MEET THE HEAD COACH
In a short time, Mauricio Ingrassia has put Long Beach State soccer on the map. Over two-plus seasons LBSU has gone 28-16-6, posting its best season in 2005 (12-5-3). Over the past two years, LBSU is 22-7-3. Ingrassia has twice had nationally ranked recruiting classes and has brought in five top-100 recruits over the past two seasons. Ingrassia came from nearby Long Beach City College in 2004, after going 184-24-8 (.870) and winning five state and two national titles over nine seasons. Two of his former players, senior defender Jenna Duncan and junior forward Kristin Childers, the 2004 JC State Player of the Year, are both starters on the team.
PERFECT START TO CONFERENCE PLAY
The 49ers began Big West play 2-0-0 following a 2-0 win over Pacific on Friday and a 3-2 slugfest, win on Sunday over CS Northridge. The 49ers scored two goals in the first half over UOP last Friday and cruised from there thanks to scores from Sarah Strohl and Hayley Bolt. On Sunday, the back-and-forth battle finally went to LBSU. Sahar Haghdan gave the 49ers a 2-0 by the 18-minute mark, only to watch CSUN to slice through the defense and score twice over the next 37 minutes. Hayley Bolt then scored the go-ahead goal in the 69th minute off a header to send the 49ers to just their second 2-0-0 conference start in school-history.
BOLT EARNS WEEKLY AWARD
Sophomore midfielder Hayley Bolt (Lakewood) was named the Big West's Player of the Week following the game-winning assist on Friday and the game-winner on Sunday. This is Bolt's first weekly honor. Bolt currently leads the Big West in scoring with five goals.
STREAKING TO 10 WINS
After pushing across 12 wins last year, the 49ers have raced to 10 wins this season after just 12 matches. The Beach are now on the verge of tying the school-record in which they matched last season with two more victories.
SOCCER RATINGS RELEASED
A quasi RPI system has been developed by Soccer Information Systems and the 49ers have a rating of No. 25 as of September 30. Amongst other teams on the West Coast, Portland, UCLA and Santa Clara are all in the top-six, while CS Fullerton, USC and Pepperdine are rated No. 17 to No. 19. The Big West is rated as the No. 6 conference.
SCORE EARLY AND WIN
In 10 of the 49ers first 12 matches, LBSU has scored in the first half, picking 10 wins after leading after the first 45 minute and another four victories after being tied.
RANKINGS ROMP
Sophomore goalkeeper Liz Ramos (Bakersfield) continues to rank nationally in goals against average coming in at No. 14 nationally with an 0.44 goals against average. The sophomore has posted 7.5 shutouts this year and continues to re-set the school-record with 18 career shutouts in two seasons.
HAGHDAN SCORES IN BUNCHES
Sophomore forward Sahar Haghdan (Palmdale) had a solid week this past weekend, picking up her second two-goal match of the season and third in her young career. Haghdan enters the week with four goals this season and is one of three players with 10 or more points this season.
MORE ASSISTS THAN ANYONE
Sophomore forward Kim Silos (Ontario), who led the team in goals last season has taken to passing this year, leading the Big West with six assists. Her 11 career assists is the most of any modern player and third-best all-time. Silos is just seven points away from tying Allison Wiegand for the modern day record for points (46).
OK, YOU WIN IT
Big hitters Kim Silos and Hayley Bolt have combined for five of the team's 10 game-winners this season, but proving the team's depth is no fluke, LBSU has had six players score the game-winning goal this season.
FINALLY HITTING THE TARMAC
The 49ers completed their longest trek of the season during the month of September, playing nine of their first 10 on the road and going 7-2-0, which included wins at Oregon, at the University of San Francisco and at Gonzaga. The road trip featured dance steps in Westwood, San Francisco, Flagstaff, AZ, Spokane, WA, Cheney, WA, Portland, OR and Eugene, OR.
HARD TO TOUCH IN OVERTIME
Following the team's 1-0 overtime victory at Gonzaga , The Beach are now 4-1-6 under Mauricio Ingrassia in overtime. LBSU has not lost an overtime match since a 2-1 setback at Utah State during Ingrassia's first season, a string of seven in a row (3-0-4).
WINNING WITH DEFENSE
The 49ers have allowed one or fewer goals in 10 of their first 12 matches, shutting out opponents eight times and ranking 17th nationally with a team 0.50 goals against average.
NSCAA GAME OF THE WEEK
Long Beach State will be part of the national NSCAA Game of the Week on Fox Soccer Channel when they play at CS Fullerton on October 25 at 8 p.m. Throughout the season, FSC will broadcast a men's and women's college game of the week.
RPI REPORTS TO BE RELEASED
This season the NCAA through its website, www.ncaasports.com, will release RPIs of its members on October 6 and November 3. The 49ers upgraded their schedule after just missing out on the NCAA Tournament in 2005.
BEACH PICKED TO WIN BIG WEST
For the first time in school-history the 49ers are picked to win the eight-team Big West Conference. The 49ers received three first place votes, as for the second-straight year the team has achieved the conference's best recruiting class.
ADDING TO THE CORE
Adding to the 15th-best recruiting class in the nation in 2005, the 49ers backed that up with its fifth top-100 recruit in the past two years (top-50 pick Yeraldy Hurtado) and the 39th-best class in the country. LBSU has twice had the best recruiting class in the Big West.
STILL YOUNG, BUT DEEPER
This year's squad is still relatively young, checking in with 14 underclassmen, but most have learned from a grueling 2005 campaign. Following a record 12-3-3 start in 2005, the 49ers went 0-2-2 down the stretch. The team did not score a goal after October 21, a span of 414 minutes heading into the 2006 season. |
