First Place 49ers Set to Stay at Head of the Pack
Beach Hosts CS Fullerton and UC Riverside This Weekend
October 16, 2007 PDF VERSION OF THE RELEASE 49ERS HOST KEY HOME MATCHES
The first place 49ers (10-4-0, 3-0-0 Big West) will host two key Big West matchups at home this weekend, with CS Fullerton (7-6-1, 2-2-0 Big West) on Friday at 2 p.m. and UC Riverside (8-5-1, 2-1-1 Big West, who play at CS Northridge on Friday) on Sunday at noon. The Highlanders are in second place with seven points, while the Titans and UC Santa Barbara have six points a piece. The 49ers are the clubhouse leader with nine points. LBSU will look to match their longest win streak in school-history (set in 2005) on Friday. Earlier this season, The Beach had a chance to tie the record, but dropped a decision to now No. 3-ranked USC before the largest crowd in school history. The 49ers have been dominate at home over the past three seasons, going 18-4, but two of those losses have come to this week's opponents-- CS Fullerton (3-0 in 2005) and UC Riverside (3-0 in 2006). LBSU has won eight of their last nine.
A LOOK AT THE OPPONENTS
The Titans, at 7-6-1 overall, have hit an unlucky cold stretch, dropping three of their last four, including two losses in overtime, at Cal Poly at to No. 6-ranked Santa Clara... from September 9 to September 30, the Titans went 6-1, winning at Washington and at Fresno State, and defeating No. 14-ranked California and Oklahoma at home... senior forward Lauren Cram leads the club with five goals and 12 points, while senior forward Brianna Buffington has four goals... CSF has employed three goalkeepers, due to the graduation of Big West Goalkeeper of the Year Karen Bardsley, producing a 1.15 goals against average... Fullerton leads the all-time series 5-4-0 for new Head Coach Demian Brown... UCR, which plays at CS Northridge on Friday, is 8-5-1 on the season as two-time Big West Player of the Week Tessa Lennala leads the conference with eight goals... UCR is 2-2-1 over its last five contests... the team is near the top of the conference in scoring (23 goals), but has given up one more than they've scored... the series is knotted up at 2-2-3, as the 49ers 3-0 loss last year in the regular season finale broke a string of two straight years of shutouts on both sides (three matches)... LBSU has not scored on the Highlanders since a 2-1 win in 2002, going 0-2-3 against fifth-year Coach Veronica O'Brien.
WHAT'S KICKING NEXT
The 49ers play at UC Irvine in their final regular season away match of the season. The conference season heads into its final three weeks this week, with LBSU hosting UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly to close out the regular season, prior to the Big West Tournament.
AT THE HELM
The 49ers quick emergence as a regional and national threat has come at the hands and feet of Head Coach Mauricio Ingrassia. Ingrassia, who has gone 42-23-7 over three-plus seasons, has brought in three top-40 recruiting classes, including the 15th-best class in the nation in 2005. That class, now juniors, is the core of this year's team. LBSU has gone 10-4-2 over the last three-plus seasons in the Big West. Ingrassia previously won five state titles at nearby Long Beach City College, the most of any California coach. He finished his LBCC career winning the last 55 in a row.
IN THE TOP-25
Prior to Mauricio Ingrassia's arrival, the 49ers were never in the regional polls, let alone the national polls. This year's team for the second straight year was ranked in the top-30 to start the year, ranking a pre-season high of No. 25 in Soccer Buzz' annual poll. The 49ers were as high as No. 21 last season. The team's No. 8 regional ranking was one spot away from the program's best mark, set last year.
LIKING IT AT THE TOP
The Big West Champions from a year ago, with a 3-0-0 start to conference play this season, the 49ers have spent the last seven-straight weeks either tied or been outright in front in the Big West standings. LBSU is 8-1-1 over two seasons in conference matches and 11-4-2 since 2005.
ROAD WARRIORS
The 49ers have played nine of their 10 regular season matches already, to mixed results. LBSU dropped consecutive one-goal decisions to three-straight top-25 teams (No. 24 Wake Forest, NO. 20 Clemson and No. 24 BYU) from September 5 to 11 and scored five goals against three different opponents (CS Bakersfield, Middle Tennessee and Norht Texas). They opened up conference with three-straight road wins (Pacific, UC Davis and CS Northridge) with a less than full roster, due to injury.
BALANCED ATTACK
The 49ers have scored seven goals in conference play with a goal a piece coming from seven different players. Overall, five players have scored at least three goals, led by six a piece by junior forward Kim Silos (Ontario) and freshman forward Kristen Kiefer (Mission Viejo).
WINNER CAN COME FROM ANYWHERE
Over the past two seasons, it was nearly automatic that either Hayley Bolt or Kim Silos was going to take the final shot (a combined 21 game-winners between them). This year LBSU has had seven different players score game-winners, led by two a piece by Silos, Bolt and Dana Farquhar.
DOUBLE DIGITS IN THE CARDS, AGAIN
For the third-straight year, LBSU has reached double digits in wins, a program first. The 49ers have set the school-record for wins in each of the last two seasons, going 12-5-3 in 2005 and 14-5-1 in 2006. They are four wins away from last year's record and two conference wins from the record they set last year (5-1-1).
TRIO STILL WEEK TO WEEK
Three players continue to be week-to-week for the 49ers, starting defender Grace Shevlin (ankle) and Kristen Kiefer (ankle), both injured at Pacific and Tiffany Vaught (leg). Kiefer was the conference's leading scorer before getting injured, Shevlin had started the first 13 matches.
RECORD CROWDS
The team's match against the Women of Troy brought out a record 1204 fans on September 28. Prior to that match, an LBSU soccer match had never drawn more than 1000 fans. The last two years have seen some of the highest attendance numbers in school-history.
MEGORDEN OUT FOR THE SEASON
Starting defender Julie Megorden (Los Alamitos) is out for the season after suffering a knee injury against Oklahoma on September 14. Megorden had 43 career caps to her credit.
RECORD BREAKING COUPLE OF YEARS
The 49ers have had the two best seasons in school history, going 12-5-3 in 2005 and 14-5-1 in 2006. Both times they broke the school record for victories and shutouts, as the team has produced 26 scoreless contests over two-plus seasons. They just missed the NCAA Tournament in 2006 after winning the Big West's regular season title.
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