No. 23-ranked 49ers Host Fresno State on Wednesday
Quiet Week Features Just One Home Match for First Place 49ers
October 9, 2006 PDF OF THE RELEASE BEACH HOSTS FRESNO STATE
It will be a relatively quiet week for No. 23-ranked Long Beach State (11-2-1, 3-0-1 Big West) when they host previously-ranked Fresno State (7-4-1) on Wednesday at 3 p.m. The first place 49ers will take two weeks off from Big West play when they play the Bulldogs this week and travel to UC Davis on October 20. The Beach return home for two of their final three regular season matches against UC Irvine on October 22.. The winner of the regular season will host the four-team Big West Tournament during the first weekend of November.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Fresno State enters the week at 7-4-1 with top-25 wins at Florida (1-0) and at Brigham Young (1-0)... this is the first of three matches for the Bulldogs... FSU this season has appeared in the top-25 for the first time since 1999, when former LBSU Coach Peter Reynaud was at the helm of the FSU program... the Bulldogs first loss of the year was at No. 14-ranked Utah 2-0 following a 3-0-1 start... currently, FSU has won just one of their previous four matches, losing in double overtime against UC Riverside and at Cal Poly in single overtime by identical 1-0 scores... the team posted a 2-0 win over Nevada last Friday to begin Western Athletic play... Cortney Sobreror and Antonea Lugo each have three goals to lead Fresno State, while Angie Larson ranks nationally in goals against average at 0.48.
RANK AND FILE
The Beach returned to the rankings this week after a two-week hiatus, ranking No. 23 in Soccer America. LBSU dropped out of the top-30 during the final week of September after spending the first month in Soccer Buzz's national rankings. The 49ers moved up to their highest rankings of all-time on September 18 when they were ranked No. 21 by Soccer Buzz. They were No. 7 regionally for most of September. They began the season No. 28 in Soccer Buzz and No. 9 regionally. They appeared in the top-25 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 29-16-7, posting its best season in 2005 (12-5-3). Over the past two years, LBSU is 23-7-4 with 21 shutouts. 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 starters on the team.
49ERS UNDEFEATED ON THE COAST
The 49ers produced its first unbeaten road trip to the Central Coast since 2000 following a 1-0 win at UC Santa Barbara on Friday and an 0-0, double overtime tie on Sunday at Cal Poly. On Friday, Kim Silos found the net in the 73rd minute following a two-teamed pass by Sahar Haghdan and Dana Farquhar, who set up the winning score. On Sunday, in a very even match, both team's defenses kept the other off balance resulting in a tie. The weekend kept The Beach a top the Big West standings and put them in a strong position to make the four-team tournament at the end of the year.
RAMOS EARNS WEEKLY HONOR
Sophomore goalkeeper Liz Ramos (Bakersfield) was awarded her first weekly conference honor following two shutouts last week. Ramos produced seven saves on Sunday at Cal Poly, including four in overtime, as Ramos checks in with 9.5 shutouts this season and 20 in her two-year career. This is the third time a 49er athlete has earned the honor from the Big West.
KNOCK DOWN, GET UP AND GO
Footwork specialist Sahar Haghdan (Palmdale) has a knack for finding her way through defenders. Listed at 5-3, opponents have been known to just knock down the sophomore forward. But each time she's gotten back up and given the 49ers an advantage scoring four goals and adding three assists on the season.
VAUGHT BACK IN, ZEROES CONTINUE
Sophomore defender Tiffany Vaught (Ladera Ranch) returned to the starting lineup and responded, shutting down both UC Santa Barbara's and Cal Poly over the weekend. Vaught played all 200 minutes last week and overall has started 10 contests this season.
PERRY FILLS IN
Junior defender Amanda Perry (Fresno) filled in for an injured Natalie Messina in the second half at UC Santa Barbara and was a part of one of the top defensive efforts of the season. Perry again was inserted into the lineup on Sunday and again played well on the backline. She has been one of the half dozen or so players rotated through the backline this season.
ON TARGET
The team's offensive threats still go through two players: former Freshman All-Americans Kim Silos and Hayley Bolt. The two have combined for 10 of the team's 22 goals and eight of the team's 25 assists. The duo have combined for six game-winners this season and 15 of the team's last 23 wins.
STREAKING TO 10 WINS
After pushing across 12 wins last year, the 49ers 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 one more victory.
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.
ROAD WARRIORS IN 2006
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. The team will play all but six matches away from home during the regular season.
WINNING WITH DEFENSE
The 49ers have allowed one or fewer goals in 12 of their first 14 matches, shutting out opponents 10 times and ranking seventh nationally with a team 0.42 goals against average.
HARD TO TOUCH IN OVERTIME
Following the team's two overtime matches this season (1-0 win at Gonzaga and a 0-0 tie at Cal Poly), The Beach are now 4-1-7 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 eight in a row (3-0-5).
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 5 p.m. Throughout the season, FSC will broadcast a men's and women's college game of the week.
FIRST RPI REPORT RELEASED
This season the NCAA through its website, www.ncaasports.com, will release RPIs of its members on October 6 and November 3. According to the RPI report released on October 6, LBSU has an RPI of 60.
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. The biggest surprise has been the emergence of Sarah Strohl, a 6-1 late signee. 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. |
