49ers One Win Away From NCAA Tournament

Thursday, November 6

Long Beach, Calif.

2:00 PM

Long Beach State University

14-4-3

Pacific

10-8-1

Pacific

Long Beach State

11/6/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

Nov. 6, 2008

Long Beach, Calif. - The Long Beach State women's soccer team advanced to the Big West Tournament championship game with a 3-0 victory over Pacific on Thursday afternoon at George Allen Field. The 49ers improved to 14-3-3 overall record, while Pacific closed out their season with a 10-8-1 mark.

The 49ers took the first lead of the match with six seconds remaining in the first half. After Pacific committed a foul, Yeraldy Hurtado got the direct kick from the left side of the field and sent it to Hayley Bolt, who flicked the ball in over the goalie's head. Bolt tallied her 10th goal of the season.

"We got the energy off the bench and energy off each other and that's what wins us games," Bolt said. "That's what allows us to score in the last six seconds of a half."

Long Beach State carried the energy into the second half, adding two more goals in a span of two minutes. In the 86th minute, Mariko Strickland found the back of the net from 15-feet out on a Dana Farquhar cross. In the 88th minute, Bolt struck again on a header to the right side of the net. Strickland added the assist, her fifth of the year.

"The second and third goals were a relief," said goalkeeper Liz Ramos, who finished with seven saves. "Just being up by one goal is really tight, but once we went up by two I felt like I could play, relax and take risks. And, once we went up by three I told myself it was over."

The Tigers outshot the LBSU 11-10 and also took two more shots on goal, but could never put it past Ramos. Ramos has 8.5 shutouts this season.

The victory put the 49ers in the Big West Tournament championship game for the first time under head coach Mauricio Ingrassia. The past three seasons the 49ers have exited early in the semifinal round.

"We did everything right to get us to our home and get it done here," said Ingrassia. "I thought we did a tremendous job battling through and staying composed. Getting that second and third goal shows a lot of character and it shows that we are ready to punch through."

Long Beach State will play the winner of the No. 2 UC Santa Barbara-No.3 Cal Poly game on Sunday at 1 p.m. at George Allen Field. The winner earns the Big West automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

"We have been really focused on playing in the moment and forgetting about the good wins, the losses, and we just get ready for the next battle," said Ramos. "This is a great win for us, and we'll celebrate, but we know our ultimate task is to make it to NCAA's and now we just start focusing."