No. 21-ranked 49ers Head to Washington to Close Out Road Trip
Beach Off to Best Start in School History
September 20, 2006 PDF VERSION OF THE RELEASE ONE LAST ROADIE AWAITS
The No. 21-ranked 49ers (7-1-0), off to its best start in school-history, take to the road for one final time this month when they travel to Northeast Washington for matches at Eastern Washington (1-6-1) on Friday at a later than scheduled 4 p.m. start and at Gonzaga (4-3-1 prior to playing at Idaho on Friday) on Sunday at a later than scheduled 1 p.m. start. After this week, the 49ers, winners of four in a row, will have played nine of their first 10 matches on the road. LBSU is also looking to match its longest winning streak of all-time with a win on Friday in Cheney, WA. The 49ers continue to rank nationally in defense, ranking seventh nationally in goals against average (0.25) thanks to six shutouts on the year.
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
The 49ers will finally return home on September 29 and October 1 when they open up conference play with Pacific and CS Northridge, respectively. The team continues to have season ticket packages available for the final five home matches, starting at $25 by call (562) 985-4949. A more normal routine will be in store for the team over the last month of the season as the 49ers will remain in California for the rest of the regular season. Last year LBSU was a record 9-1-0 at home.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Eastern Washington enters Friday's match at 1-6-1 having not won in its four previous attempts (0-3-1) following losses to Oregon (1-0), USC (2-0), Eastern Washington (1-1) and Boise State (4-3)... sophomore midfielder Melissa Guthrie is coming off the bench with a team-best three goals, while senior Tiera Como has a 2.37 goals against average... this is EWU's only match of the week as they will then take six days off... Gonzaga enters the week at 4-3-1, having defeating Utah Valley State 2-1 on Sunday after dropping three-straight matches to Arizona, Pacific and Oregon by identical 1-0 margins... The Zags sport a record of 16-2-1 at home over the last two years... Nanda McCormick leads the club with six points (two goals, four assists)... Gonzaga was picked to finish third in a very tough WCC race, which right now features three top-20 programs... GU has had three consecutive winning seasons under eighth-year Head Coach Shannon Stiles, including a record 12 wins and 11 shutouts last year.
RANK AND FILE
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 have remained No. 7 regionally for the past four weeks. LBSU appeared at No. 33 in Soccer Times poll this week as well. 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 25-15-6, posting its best season in 2005 (12-5-3). Over the past two years, LBSU is 19-6-3. 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 currently on the team.
FIRING AWAY ON ALL CYLINDERS
The high altitude was not a problem for the 49ers this past weekend at Northern Arizona as the team set scoring records this weekend. On Friday, LBSU fired away a record six goals as part a 6-1 romp over Texas State. Sahar Haghdan and Kim Silos each had two goals a piece as the 49ers also set records for goals in the second half (four) and most points accumulated (18). On Sunday, The Beach fired away a record tying 34 shots as Tennessee-Martin sat back on the 18 yard line (taking just three shots) and put up a wall nearly the size of the Great Wall of China in holding the 49ers to just one goal.
TOURNAMENT WINNERS, AGAIN
Opponents might want to think twice about scheduling The Beach in a tournament. LBSU has swept through its two in-season tournaments this year, outscoring opponents 10-1 over four matches. The 49ers have not lost in any of their last 10 in-season tournaments matches (9-0-1) and are overall, 11-2-1 with four tournament titles in Mauricio Ingrassia's three seasons.
RAMOS IS RANKED HIGHER
Goalkeeper Liz Ramos (Bakersfield) continues to get national attention for the record-breaking 49er defense as the sophomore now ranks third nationally in goals against average (0.14) and fourth in save percentage (96%). Ramos is an impressive 19-4-3 in her career in goal, posting a school-record 16 shutouts.
SILOS AMONGST LEADERS
Sophomore forward Kim Silos (Ontario) enters the week as the conference leader in total points (10-tied) and assists (4-tied) following a five-point outburst over Texas State last Friday. Silos also ranks fourth in the conference in goals, tying with among others, teammate Hayley Bolt with three scores.
FRESHMAN MAKES IMPACT
The 49ers midfield got a lot bigger when freshman Sarah Strohl (San Diego) started for the first time at UCLA three weekends ago. The 6-1 freshman has made an immediate impact, even scoring the game-winner at USF two weeks ago.
DEFENSE STOPS ALL
For the second time this season, LBSU's defense, anchored by seniors Jenna Duncan (Long Beach), and tri-captain Natalie Messina (Santa Rosa) along with sophomore Julie Megorden (Los Alamitos) have held a team shotless for a majority of the game. Against Texas State last weekend, the Bobcats did not take a shot for 37 minutes, while against Utah State two weeks ago, the Aggies did not take a shot in the second half.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
Her stat line may read just two assists in two years, but sophomore midfielder Sara Baca (Ventura) is a key to the 49ers offense and defense this season. Baca has started all 28 games in her career, starting at defender, where she was a CIF Defensive Player of the Year in 2005, and at midfielder.
EVERYONE PLAYS AND SCORES
The 49ers match against Texas State, was not only one for the scorebooks, but also for a number of players. Junior walk-on Kim Altman and redshirt freshman Julia Schrofer tallied their first career points (assists in the second half), while veterans Erin Empting and Katelyn Quaresma each scored their first goals of the season. The team's depth has been a strength to the team entering the season, which saw just one player fall to pre-season conditioning.
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.
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.
FIRST-EVER PRE-SEASON RANK
Following a record-breaking campaign in 2005, the 49ers were ranked No. 28 by Soccer Buzz in its pre-season poll, the first-ever pre-season national ranking for the program.
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. |
