Long Beach State University Athletics
Road Swing Continues As Beach Travels To UC Davis
10/18/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Long Beach, Calif. -
Complete Long Beach State Soccer Game Notes 
Long Beach State continues its season-long four-game road trip this week, heading north to UC Davis to face the Aggies on Friday. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. on October 21, as the Beach looks to maintain their place in the top half of the league that will be invited to the Big West Tournament to close the season at George Allen Field.
IN THE RANKINGS
The Beach slipped one spot and now rates 26th in the Bennett Rankings of Hero Sports entering Friday's contest.
LAST TIME OUT
Long Beach State became the first team this season to hold Hawai'i scoreless, but unfortunately couldn't break through either in a 0-0 draw on the island. Ashton McKeown had six saves and the Beach had nine corner kicks to four for the Rainbow Wahine, but after 110 minutes both teams had to settle for the single point.
SCOUTING UC DAVIS
UC Davis comes into Friday's game with a similar record in both overall and league play to Long Beach State, with a record of 6-7-3 overall and a 2-2-1 mark in conference action, making the game extremely important to both sides in terms of conference tournament qualification. The Aggies are led by Celina Minissian and Rachel Ahr, who have each scored four goals this season, but UC Davis is balanced overall in scoring, with 11 different players scoring this season.
SERIES RECORD
Long Beach State lads the all-time series 8-3-1 against UC Davis, and is 3-2 in Davis all-time. The Beach has won two straight, and had gone five unbeaten dating back to the 49ers' last loss to the Aggies, a 1-0 defeat in 2010 on the road. In all, Long Beach State has won seven of the last nine meetings with one draw.
STRONG START
The Beach began the year at 3-0-1, marking its best four-game start since 2008, when it had an identical record. During that stretch, Long Beach registered three shutouts and a 0.24 goals against average. It also outscored its opponents, 9-1.
ON THE ATTACK
Long Beach State is on pace to have one of its best seasons in terms of goal production. The Beach, needs three more goals to match last year's total of 26. LBSU also has six multi-goal matches in 2016, including a season-high five against DePaul on Sept. 11. Nine different 49ers have found the back of the net, and seven have done so multiple times. Junior Ashley Gonzales leads the balanced attack with seven goals and 16 points.
TOUGH SCHEDULE
Long Beach State continues its tradition of playing a tough non-conference schedule as four of its opponents advanced to the NCAA Tournament last year. LBSU has hosted defending national champion Penn State, USC (Second Round) and Loyola Marymount (Sweet 16), and traveled to BYU (Second Round) on Sept. 24. The Beach also faced UCLA, which saw its streak of 17 consecutive postseason appearances snapped in 2015. Seven of the 49ers' non-conference adversaries are coming off a winning season with six recording at least 12 victories. In addition, Long Beach State faced its fourth ranked opponent of the year when the 49ers played at No. 4 BYU. LBSU is 1-3-0 against ranked foes in 2016.
FOR THE RECORD
Junior Ashley Gonzales is seventh in school history with 24 career goals and is eighth with 53 points. Ten of her goals have been game-winners, which puts her at No. 4 on the LBSU all-time charts in that category. Senior Mimi Rangel is also sixth in shot attempts (132), sixth in assists (9) and is ninth in points (47). In addition, senior Ashton McKeown ranks second in shutouts (23.0) and is second in saves as well (201), passing Jihan Elgazzar last Friday in Hawai'i.
DEFENSIVE MINDED
Long Beach State has consistently been one of the top defensive teams in the Big West, and more recently, in the nation. The 49ers' goals against average has been no higher than 0.80 in each of the last two seasons, with last year's mark of 0.65 being tops in the conference and 25th in the country. This season, the Beach is once more allowing less than a goal a game with a 0.95 GAA.
