Long Beach State University Athletics
Long Beach State soccer announces 2011 schedule
5/11/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
May 11, 2011
LONG BEACH - Long Beach State head women's soccer coach Mauricio Ingrassia has announced the 49ers' schedule for the upcoming 2011 season. The 19-match slate, which features 10 home games, is highlighted by seven teams that advanced to the 2010 NCAA Championship.
"Recent history shows that Long Beach State's schedule is among the toughest in the Big West," Ingrassia said. "The challenges of this year's schedule will allow the team to learn and grow together. We had a great spring and are anxiously looking forward to the fall."
LBSU kicks off the campaign with contests against a pair of 2010 NCAA Tournament teams. The 49ers will first head to Pac-10 opponent USC for a 3 p.m. showdown on Friday, Aug. 19, before hosting reigning Big Sky champion Sacramento State in their home opener on Sunday, Aug. 21 (1 p.m.).
The schedule doesn't get any easier the following weekend when Long Beach State travels to Wisconsin for the annual Milwaukee Cup, Aug. 26-28. The 49ers take on three-time defending Horizon League champion Milwaukee before squaring off against Marquette, who advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament last year.
The Beach returns home for three games as it plays host to Princeton (Sept. 2), Hawaii (Sept. 4) and California (Sept. 9), before heading south for a pair of road games at San Diego State (Sept. 11) and San Diego (Sept. 16).
The 49ers then wrap up their preseason slate against St. Mary's on Sept. 18 and UNLV on Sept. 23.
Long Beach State begins conference action on the road when it travels to UC Santa Barbara (Sept. 30) and Cal Poly (Oct. 2). The 49ers are set to take on cross-town rival Cal State Fullerton in their Big West home opener on Oct. 9.
After making the short trip to Cal State Northridge and UC Irvine, LBSU returns to George Allen Field for its final three regular season games against UC Riverside, UC Davis and Pacific.
The 49ers are coming off one of their best seasons in program history as they claimed their first Big West Conference Tournament title and earned the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament in 2010.
The Beach has won either a regular season or conference tournament championship in four of the last five years and has advanced to the NCAA Tournament in two of the last three years.
