Women's Soccer Begins Big West Conference Play At Fullerton Thursday

Thursday, September 27

Fullerton, Calif.

7:00 PM PT

Long Beach State University

Cal State Fullerton

Photo by: Photo by John Fajardo

Women's Soccer Begins Big West Conference Play At Fullerton Thursday

9/25/2018 4:09:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Game Notes - Cal State Fullerton

The Beach kicks off Big West action with a rivalry game.

By: Roger Kirk, Assistant Athletics Director, Athletic Communications

LONG BEACH, Calif. -- It's a rivalry game to kick off conference play for the Beach, as Long Beach State travels to Cal State Fullerton to take on the Titans on Thursday night. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Thursday, September 27, with streaming available through Big West TV and the Long Beach State Radio Network call to be found through 22 West Radio.

• LBSU begins the week just outside of the Top 25, receiving votes following wins over SMU and BYU among others in the preseason, without taking a loss to an unranked team in the preseason. The Beach also has the highest RPI among all Big West teams, starting the week with an RPI of 49.

• Long Beach State's defense has been outstanding so far in 2018, allowing only 11 goals in ten games this season, including a trio of shutouts, and have only given up more than two goals once.

• Ashley Gonzales has returned in a big way and continues to lead the Beach. The senior has scored four goals and made an assist already this season while leading the team with 23 shots, including 11 on target after missing the 2017 campaign with injury.

• Gonzales' goal against LMU tied the senior with Janet Fettig for the most in school history. Her next goal will see her stand alone at the top of the goal-scoring list at Long Beach State with 34 goals in her career.

• While Gonzales leads the team in scoring, nine different players have combined to score Long Beach State's 16 goals this season, with senior Dana Fujikuni scoring three goals and juniors Katie Pingel and Taylor Bistline each adding two.

• Receiving two first-place votes, Long Beach State was picked to finish second in the Big West preseason coaches poll, two points behind UC Irvine, who took the top spot along with three first-place votes. Cal State Fullerton also received three first-place votes and was picked to finish third and the three rivals were very close in the final point totals. CSUN was picked to finish fourth, followed by UC Davis who received the final first-place vote. UCSB, UC Riverside, Cal Poly and Hawai'i rounded out the order as predicted by the coaches.

• Long Beach State's defense has been a strong point despite the absence of 2017 Big West Defensive Player of the Year Kaitlin Fregulia. Senior Sarah Maher has been an anchor, playing nearly every minute this season while sophomore Sarah Pilster has also started every game in the back line. Those two have been joined by junior Chloe Froment, senior Alyssa Alvarez and junior Kaylee Ramirez to create a formidable unit in front of senior goaltender Imani McDonald.

• Senior Imani McDonald continues to rise up the career lists for goalkeeping at the Beach. Her Goals Against Average of 1.11 is the sixth-best in school history, and she currently ranks 7th in saves, 5th in minutes and 5th in shutouts all-time at Long Beach State.

• The Beach had two players recognized in back-to-back weeks on the Top Drawer Soccer National Team of the Week. Senior Imani McDonald was the Goalkeeper on the XI for her efforts in the opening week, and then Sarah Pilster was an honorable mention defender after the wins over Northeastern and SMU.

• Further up front, Long Beach State's tremendous depth has shown as 16 outfieled players have played in at least nine of the team's ten games this year. Seniors Ashley Gonzales, Dana Fujikuni, Sarah Maher, Rocio Rodriguez and Alyssa Alvarez have played in every game as have juniors Taylor Bistline, Chloe Froment and Kaylee Ramirez. Underclassmen to feature in every game include Rola Badawiya, Sarah Pilster, Kayla Cannon, Makayla Soll and freshman Elysia Laramie.

• Long Beach State once again faced a tremendous non-conference schedule. On the slate were three road games against opponents ranked in the Top 25, including the season opener against No. 2 UCLA as well as at USC and Texas. Additionally, Long Beach State hosted Auburn who started the season with a nine-game winning streak, and grabbed wins against SMU and BYU, teams both receiving votes same as the Beach when the teams played.

• The Beach had three players selected to the 11-player Big West preseason all-conference team. Senior Forward Ashley Gonzales and Junior F/MF Katie Pingel were two of the offensive players selected, while defender Chloe Froment was one of the four defenders picked as the top representatives for the Big West entering the season. All three have previously earned All-Big West honors, with Gonzales and Froment both claiming top individual honors in 2016.

SCOUTING THE TITANS
• The Titans enter Big West play with an overall record of 3-7-1, and have the lowest RPI in the league despite coming into the season picked to finish third by the coaches. Nano Oronoz leads the team with four goals scored in total. Against common opponents, both teams lost to Auburn on the Tigers' trip West, while the Beach defeated BYU on the road 3-1 and the Titans lost to the Cougars in Fullerton 1-0 to start the year.

SERIES RECORD vs. CAL STATE FULLERTON
• Cal State Fullerton holds a 12-8-2 edge in the all-time series between the teams and was won three straight against the Beach dating back to 2015. Over the length of the 22 games, however, Long Beach State has a 5-4-1 edge in games played in Fullerton between the two teams.