Long Beach State University Athletics
Beach Closes Regular Season Against UC Riverside, UC Santa Barbara
10/26/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Long Beach, Calif. -
BEACH CLOSES REGULAR SEASON AGAINST UC RIVERSIDE, UC SANTA BARBARA
Long Beach State will finish a four-game road swing this Thursday, facing UC Riverside at 7 p.m. on October 27 before returning home to George Allen Field to close the regular season against UC Santa Barbara at 2 p.m. on Sunday, October 30 as the team recognizes its seniors pregame.
SPECIAL NOTE Sunday's game time has been changed from it's original slot and will be played at 2 p.m. at George Allen Field.
WHAT'S AT STAKE
A win in either game this week would guarantee Long Beach State a berth in the four-team Big West Tournament, held on November 3 and November 6 and hosted by the Beach at George Allen Field.
IN THE RANKINGS
The Beach picked up two spots and moved back into the Top 25 in the Bennett Rankings of Hero Sports entering Thursday's game against UC Riverside at No. 24.
LAST TIME OUT
Scoreless through halftime, Long Beach State grabbed a critical conference win on the road at UC Davis, as Kailee Prescott's first goal of the season gave the Beach the lead, and after UC Davis drew even, Ashley Gonzales' 79th minute strike moved LBSU one step closer to the Big West Tournament.
SCOUTING UC RIVERSIDE
After a terrible start to conference play, starting 0-5-0, the Highlanders had a tremendous weekend last week, stunning UC Santa Barbara 3-0 before dropping Cal Poly 1-0. Tayler Dragoo leads the offense with four goals on the year, while the defense really stepped up last week for UC Riverside, holding the UCSB and Cal Poly to just seven combined shots in the two wins.
SERIES RECORD
Long Beach State lads the all-time series 8-5-4 all-time, and is 4-2-1 on the road in Riverside. The Beach also won the last meeting between the teams, a 1-0 win in overtime in last season's Big West Semifinals. However, the Highlanders had the edge prior to that, winning three straight meetings before the 49ers' tournament victory.
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 one more goal to match last year's total of 26. LBSU also has seven multi-goal matches in 2016, including a season-high five against DePaul on Sept. 11. Ten different 49ers have found the back of the net, and seven have done so multiple times. Junior Ashley Gonzales leads the balanced attack with eight goals and 19 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 25 career goals and tied for seventh with 56 points. 11 of her goals have been game-winners, which ties her with Hayley Bolt for third on the LBSU all-time charts in that category. Senior Mimi Rangel is also sixth in shot attempts (134), sixth in assists (19) and is ninth in points (47). In addition, senior Ashton McKeown ranks second in shutouts (23.0) and is second in saves as well (205).
