49ers Return Home to Open Up Big West
Pre-Season Favorites Host Pacific, CS Northridge This Weekend
September 27, 2006 PDF File of the Release 49ERS OPEN BIG WEST AT HOME
The 49ers (8-2-0), off to its best start in school-history, will finally return home after spending just nine of the last 21 days at home, when it hosts Pacific (8-1-1) on Friday at 3 p.m. and CS Northridge (6-4-0) on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. The Beach, the conference favorites to begin the year, are one of two teams who have been ranked this season. Last year the 49ers finished in third place, at 3-3-1. All-time, LBSU is 4-4 in conference openers. The Beach enters play this weekend having won five of their last six.
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
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
Pacific enter Friday's match at 8-1-1, having gone 6-1 in one-goal decisions... the Tigers are coming off a win at USF on Tuesday (2-1) after being picked to finish fifth in the Big West... their lone blemish is to No. 19-ranked BYU two weeks ago... Mandi Van Dorn leads the club with five goals, while Jaime Souza ranks second in the league behind 49er goalkeeper Liz Ramos in goals against average... CSUN enters the match at 6-4-0 having defeated Detroit in overtime and then beating host Hawaii on Monday... the Matadors have now won four of five... Northridge is the conference's highest scoring team with Tessa Binkley leading the Big West in assists (5)... Kellie Drenner has an 0.98 goals against average... CSUN was picked seventh in the Big West... The 49ers are 3-4-1 all-time against the Tigers and 3-5-1 against CS Northridge... LBSU won at Pacific last year and lost at CSUN after Hayley Bolt broke he wrist in Stockton prior to Sunday's match in Northridge.
RANK AND FILE
LBSU dropped out of the top-30 for the first time this season. 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, dropping to No. 10 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 26-16-6, posting its best season in 2005 (12-5-3). Over the past two years, LBSU is 20-7-3. 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.
STREAKING HEADING INTO CONFERENCE
The 49ers' final road trip out of state during the regular season featured a slight bump with the team's 2-1 loss at Eastern Washington, but the ride home was a lot smoother following the team's 1-0 overtime victory at Gonzaga. At EWU, Dana Farquhar quickly tied the game in the 46th minute only to watch a miss play in goal score the game winner in the 58th minute. The loss snapped a four-match winning streak and was the first time LBSU had to play behind in the first half. On Sunday, Sara Baca found a streaking Kim Silos in the 96th minute to even up the road trip. It was only the third loss the Zags had suffered at home in three seasons (Oregon and nationally ranked Portland were the other losses).
FINALLY HITTING THE TARMAC
The 49ers completed their longest trek of the season during the month of September, going 7-2-0 away from home, 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 last Sunday, 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).
RAMOS NATIONALLY RANKED
Goalkeeper Liz Ramos (Bakersfield), despite giving up her first goal in nearly three weeks, continues to rank in the top-10 nationally in goals against average. The sophomore, who ranked third last week, checks in at No. 8 nationally with an 0.32 goals against average. Ramos also leads the Big West in goals against average.
SILOS LEADS LEAGUE
Sophomore midfielder Kim Silos (Ontario) continues to lead the league in scoring as one of a half dozen players with four goals. She leads the conference in points with 12 thanks to four assists.
WINNING WITH DEFENSE
The 49ers have allowed one or fewer goals in nine of their first 10 matches, shutting out opponents seven times and ranking 10th nationally with a team 0.40 goals against average. Five of the team's first eight wins have been by 1-0 margins.
FRESHMAN MAKES IMPACT
The 49ers midfield got a lot bigger when freshman Sarah Strohl (San Diego) started for the first time at UCLA. A late signee, the 6-1 freshman has made an immediate impact, even scoring the game-winner at USF and adding an assist at Eastern Washington last week.
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.
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. |
