Long Beach State University Athletics
Beach Soccer Draws Santa Clara in NCAA Tournament
11/9/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
LONG BEACH - The Long Beach State women's soccer team earned one of 33 at-large bids to the NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship and will head to No. 4 seed Santa Clara for a first-round game at 1 p.m. (PST) on Saturday, Nov. 14.
The Beach has now made the 64-team bracket in five of the last eight years as it also received an at-large berth in 2008 and 2012, while winning the Big West Tournament in 2010 and 2011. The 49ers went on to make history in 2011 with an unprecedented run to the NCAA Elite Eight.
"We're very excited to be going back to the NCAA Tournament," 12th-year head coach Mauricio Ingrassia said. "Our coaching staff is very proud of our team and our alumni, and now we're looking forward to our first-round game against Santa Clara."
The Black & Gold is coming off its second-straight appearance in the Big West Tournament championship game. Top-seeded Long Beach State defeated No. 4 UC Riverside in a 1-0 overtime thriller in the semifinals, before dropping a tough 1-0 decision to No. 3 Cal State Fullerton in the title match at Titan Stadium.
Sophomore forward Ashley Gonzales leads LBSU with eight goals (six game-winners) and 17 points. Senior defender Melanie Fox also has four goals and two assists, while freshman forward Fatmata Kamara has contributed three game-winners, including the golden goal in the Big West semifinals.
The 49er defense has been strong all season long with 12 shutouts and a 0.64 goals against average. Junior Ashton McKeown and freshman Imani McDonald have seen most of the action in between the pipes. McKeown has eight solo shutouts, 50 saves and a 0.59 GAA, while McDonald has started the last five games, going 4-1-0, with 27 saves, two shutouts and a 0.74 GAA.
Santa Clara (13-5-2) also earned an at-large berth as it finished fourth in the West Coast Conference. Julie Vass has paced the Broncos with eight goals and 17 points, while keeper Andi Tostanoski anchors a defense that has 10 shutouts and a 0.61 goals against average.
The winner of the LBSU-SCU match will play the victor of Northern Colorado and Arizona in the second round.
