Long Beach State University Athletics
No. 18 49ers hosts Arizona in season opener
8/15/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Aug. 15, 2012
2012 LONG BEACH STATE WOMEN'S SOCCER
Game No. 1
Friday, August 17, 2012
vs. University of Arizona Wildcats
George Allen Field - Long Beach, Calif.
FIRST GOAL
The Long Beach State women's soccer team opens the 2012 campaign hosting the University of Arizona on Friday (Aug. 17) at George Allen Field. Friday's match is slated for a 7 p.m. kickoff. LBSU comes into the season opener having won their last eight of nine games from last year. This mark the first official game being played under the new lights at George Allen Field as the eight towering stadium-type lights were installed this past January.
THE COACHES
Long Beach State Head Coach Mauricio Ingrassia enters his ninth year at the 49er helm. In eight-plus seasons, Ingrassia career record stands at 96-54-17, a winning percentage of .626 as he stands just four wins shy of reaching the 100-win plateau. Ingrassia is the winningest coach of all-time at LBSU. A 1995 graduate from Cal State Fullerton, Ingrassia has guided the LBSU soccer program to one of the country's elite. Last season, Ingrassia guided the 49ers to the NCAA Elite Eight after capturing their second consecutive Big West Conference Tournament title and recording the program's first postseason victory at No. 7 Pepperdine. His teams have also made two postseason appearances in the NCAA Tournament in 2008 and 2010 and also coached the 49ers to three Big West Conference regular-season titles (2006, 2007, 2008), two Big West Tournament championships (2010, 2011). He is the fourth all-time winningest coach in Big West history (percentage). Ingrassia is the school's seventh head coach as the program in its 19th year.
Arizona Head Coach Lisa Oyen is in her eighth year overall at Arizona and third at the Wildcat helm, with a win-loss mark of 7-35-3. In 2005, Oyen helped the Wildcats to an 11-8-3 record and a Sweet 16 berth in the NCAA Tournament.
THE SERIES
This will only be the second meeting between the two schools in the all-time series. The first time meeting occured back in 2008, when the 49ers traveled to Tucson and came away with a 2-0 victory over the Wildcats.
ABOUT ARIZONA
Coach Lisa Oyen greets 14 returning players from last year's squad that went 1-16-2 and 1-9-1 in the Pac-12 Conference. The Wildcats' only victory of the season came against Oregon (1-0). Junior forward Jazmin Ponce was Arizona's top scorer from last year's team, recording two goals and four points, while fellow classmate midfielder Ana-Maria Montoya was the second-leading scorer with one goal.
LINK NAMED TO 2012 HERMANN TROPHY WATCH LIST
Senior forward Nadia Link was named named to the Missouri Athletic Club's (MAC) Hermann Trophy Watch Lists for 2012 that was announced on Monday by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) and the MAC. The MAC Herman Trophy is the highest individual award in intercollegiate soccer presented annually in January during a banquet at the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis. The Missouri Athletic Club has been presenting college soccer's players of the year awards since 1986. Each list will be narrowed down by NSCAA members from Division I programs to 15 semifinalists by November 29. Member coaches and fans will then vote for their top three choices and the finalists will be announced December 6. The winners will be announced at the awards' banquet at the Missouri Athletic Club on Friday, Jan. 11, 2013.
49ERS RECORD HISTORIC SEASON IN 2011
LBSU is coming off from its best season in program history as the 49ers finished with an overall record of 18-6-1, marking the program's sixth 10-win campaign in the last seven years. The 18 wins also eclipsed the previous single-season record of 16, which the 2006, 2008 and 2010 squads had established. In addition, the 49ers shattered the school record for goals (49), assists (52) and points (150). The 49ers defended their Big West Conference Tournament title to advance to the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season (third in four years), and recorded the program's first postseason victory at No. 7 Pepperdine in the first of three victories that saw LBSU advance to the NCAA Elite Eight.
49ERS PICKED TO WIN BIG WEST CONFERENCE
LBSU winners of the last two Big West Conference Tournament championships, were picked to finish in first place in the Big West Preseason Coaches Poll. LBSU received nine of the 10 first-place votes for a total of 99 points. This is the first time since the 2007 season that the 49ers are favored to win the conference. LBSU captured five first-place votes (77 points) in 2007 and three votes (56 points) in 2006, when the 49ers were also picked to finish in first. UC Irvine was selected to finish in second, grabbing the other first place vote with 86 points, followed by Cal State Fullerton in third with 71. Cal State Northridge was picked to finish in fourth with 69 points, with UC Santa Barbara in fifth with 53 points. Cal Poly grabbed the sixth spot (48), while UC Davis and Pacific were tied for seventh (44) and UC Riverside and conference newcomer Hawai'i were paired for the ninth position (18).
LBSU EARNS NO. 18 RANKING IN NSCAA PRESEASON POLL
LBSU earned the preseason ranking of No. 18 by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA). The 49ers finished the 2011 campaign ranked 14th in the final NSCAA national poll, marking the first time in school history LBSU has been ranked at the end of the season. The 49ers were the only team from the Big West picked in the top 25 poll, while the Pac-12 (Stanford, UCLA) and West Coast Conference (Pepperdine, Santa Clara) had two teams each.
LINK, BALCER NAMED TO COLLEGE SPORTS MADNESS PRESEASON ALL-AMERICA TEAMS
Seniors Nadia Link and Alex Balcer were tabbed by College Sports Madness to its 2012 preseason All-America teams. Link was selected second team All-American, while Balcer was named fourth team All-American.
HOME SWEET HOME
LBSU ended the 2011 season with an impressive 10-1 home record at George Allen Field. The 49ers goes into the 2012 schedule with a seven-game home winning streak as LBSU last lost at home on Sept. 9, 2011 versus California (2-0).
NEW ADDITIONS TO GEORGE ALLEN FIELD
This year will see several new additions to the 49ers' home facility, George Allen Field, as new lights were added this past January and a brand new Daktronics scoreboard was constructed at the northeast corner of the field. George Allen Field is the first athletic field at LBSU to ever have lights and will now enable the 49ers to practice and have games at night for the first time in school history. LBSU will play their first official game under the new lights on Friday, Aug. 17 versus Arizona.
WELCOME BACK HAWAII
The University of Hawaii returns to the Big West Conference in all sports except for football as it's newest member beginning this season. UH joins nine other members that are all located in the state of California. The Rainbow Wahine was previously a member of the Big West from 1984-96 before leaving for the Western Athletic Conference.
COMING ATTRACTIONS
LBSU continues its three-game homestand hosting the Saint Francis (PA) Red Flash at George Allen Field next Friday, Aug. 24. Kickoff is scheduled of 7 p.m.
