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Strohl No Joke on the Field
by Matt Zimmerman, Long Beach Press-Telegram
October 5, 2006
LONG BEACH - Sarah Strohl anticipated the payoff with curiosity.
The Long Beach State freshman midfielder - and an upperclassman accomplice
whom she refuses to give away - had decided to play a little prank at
a team dinner on a recent road trip.
"We took the salt and sugar and stuff from the table and put it in
the napkin and put it back in the stack of napkins. When one of the girls
asked for a napkin, she opened it up, and it spilled all over," Strohl
said. "I'm not afraid of (possible vengeance), I'm sure it will come.
But it'll be funny."
When Strohl arrived on campus in early August as part of a five-member
freshman class, she was not ready to play pranks. And just as last season,
when eight freshmen contributed greatly to what was then the best season
in the nine-year history of the 49er women's soccer program, the new players
were welcomed by upperclassmen.
As coach Mauricio Ingrassia says, Strohl "came out of her shell,"
if it is possible for a player who stands 6-foot-1 to even have a shell.
Her hard work earned her a starting spot in the fourth game, against two-time
national runnerup UCLA, for the 49ers (7-1).
"(Ingrassia) stands by you practice how you play," Strohl said.
"It keeps you on your toes, knowing you have to come out to each
practice ready to work, because there's others that can take that spot."
In that UCLA game, Strohl helped the 49ers stand toe-to-toe with the Bruins
until a late goal led to a 1-0 setback. Still, the game - especially the
second half - taught a lesson.
"Even though they had that reputation, we could still put up a fight,"
Strohl said. "If we keep that mentality up and keep working the way
we are, it will pay off later in the season."
Strohl had been a late-term recruit, a player called to the attention
of Ingrassia and his staff last Thanksgiving, when they were already looking
at high school juniors with senior recruitment virtually finished. But
the LBSU coaching staff liked what they saw in Strohl.
"She was impressive, her stature and her body type. We were looking
for someone to fill that role; we didn't want to put everything on (sophomore)
Hayley Bolt's back to win headers in the middle," Ingrassia said
of his team, which also features plenty of smaller, speedy players. "Sarah
gives us that extra body in there that she'll hold her own. She has untapped
potential."
That potential includes being a target player for corner kicks and restarts,
a role she played for her club team and at San Diego's Patrick Henry High.
Strohl scored her first goal of the season on a header off a corner kick
in a 1-0 victory against San Francisco two weeks ago.
She also scored her second last weekend in the Big West-opening victory
against Pacific.
"It's really convenient having her in the game, because we feed off
each other. If I don't get it, she gets it, and vice versa," Bolt
said.
"It's really nice to have someone back there on goalie punts and
goal kicks, because it allows me to rest.
"She's there, and she wins it."
Strohl's first goal was a result of a little assignment change. She had
previously covered the back post, but that day she was near the goalie
and rose above the defenders to flick the ball into the upper-corner of
the net.
"You see a little different swagger about her after that, which is
nice," Ingrassia said. "She's got a pretty even keel, and a
great mentality. That's helped her, because she's a young (17-year-old)
freshman."
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