Long Beach State University Athletics
Long Beach State Women's Soccer Announces 2015 Schedule
5/4/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
LONG BEACH - Long Beach State women's soccer head coach Mauricio Ingrassia has announced the 49ers' regular-season schedule for the upcoming 2015 campaign. As usual, Ingrassia has put together an extremely challenging non-conference slate as the Beach is set to face seven teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament last year, including a home contest against perennial national powerhouse UCLA.
"The 2015 schedule is one of our most competitive and exciting schedules ever," Ingrassia said. "We will challenge our team with some of the best programs out there, and we will be bringing our soccer community some outstanding home games to look forward to. I'm thrilled to be able to put together such a great schedule for our group. The timing could not be better for us at this stage of our development."
LBSU kicks off the campaign on Friday, Aug. 14, when it heads to three-time defending Mountain West Conference champion San Diego State for an exhibition game.
The Beach then has a week to prepare for its home opener against UCLA on Aug 21. The Bruins have made 18-straight NCAA Tournament appearances, winning the national championship in 2013 and making it to the Elite Eight in 2014, where they finished the season with a 21-1-2 overall record. That contest will start a season-long four-game homestand for the 49ers as they also entertain Auburn (Aug. 23), which advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament a year ago, Iowa State (Aug. 28) and Bucknell (Aug. 30).
Long Beach State then heads back south for a tilt at 2014 NCAA qualifier San Diego on Sept. 4. The Toreros are a familiar foe for LBSU as the two teams have faced each other eight times in the last seven years.
The Beach returns home to host Portland State on Sept. 6, before making its way to Los Angeles for contests at Loyola Marymount (Sept. 11) and USC (Sept. 13). The 49ers then embark on their first and only out-of-state trip, traveling to Cincinnati (Sept. 17) and DePaul (Sept. 20). In 2014, DePaul went undefeated in regular-season play as it won the Big East title and suffered its only loss of the year in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Long Beach State will make its way back to George Allen Field to host BYU in the non-conference finale on Sept. 26. The Cougars have advanced to the NCAA Tournament in each of the last three years.
LBSU starts the Big West season with a home game against defending champion Cal State Fullerton. The Beach will be looking to avenge a narrow 2-1 loss to the Titans in last year's conference tournament final. The 49ers also entertain UC Riverside, Hawai'i and UC Davis in league play.
Long Beach State will have a strong group of returners in 2015, including reigning Big West Goalkeeper of the Year Ashton McKeown, Big West Midfielder of the Year Mimi Rangel and Big West Freshman of the Year Ashley Gonzales. All three players were named to the 2014 NSCAA/Continental Tire NCAA Division I Women's All-West Region Team, while Gonzales also received freshman All-America honors from Soccer America.
