Women's Soccer To Host St. John's Friday

BEFORE KICKOFF
• Long Beach State closes off a stretch of playing five out of its first seven games at home by hosting St. John's at 7 p.m. on Friday, September 7 at George Allen Field. The Beach won their first three games at home before getting edged by No. 17 Auburn 1-0 in the team's last game.

• LBSU begins the week just outside of the Top 25, receiving votes following wins over San Diego State, Northeastern and another program receiving votes, SMU while not losing to any team outside of this week's Top 20. The Beach has defeated or tied a ranked opponent in each of the last nine seasons, and will have at least one more opportunity this season when the 49ers travel to USC next week.

• Long Beach State's defense has been outstanding so far in 2018, allowing only five goals in six games this season, including a pair of shutouts.

• 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.

• Ashley Gonzales has returned in a big way and continues to lead the Beach. The senior has scored two goals and made an assists already this season while leading the team with 14 shots, including eight on target after missing the 2017 campaign with injury.

• In the absence of Gonzales at the top of the formation in 2017, Long Beach State had tremendous offensive balance, with 13 different players combining to score the 25 total goals for the Beach on the year, while 12 players combined for the assists on those goals. In total, 17 different players combined to play in Long Beach State's scoring last season. That has continued this season, with four different players scoring Long Beach State's five goals in 2018 with eight players contributing.

• The Beach returns 18 letterwinners for the 2018 season from the 2017 team, and welcomes back nine starters from last season in goalkeeper Imani McDonald, defenders Kaitlin Fregulia, Sarah Pilster, Chloe Froment and Alyssa Alvarez, midfielders Katie Pingel, Rocio Rodriguez, and Dana Fujikuni and forward Rola Badawiya.

• 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 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.

• McDonald continues to rise up the career lists for goalkeeping at the Beach. Her Goals Against Average of 1.04 is the fifth-best in school history, and she currently ranks 10th in saves, 8th in minutes and fifth in shutouts all-time at Long Beach State.

• Further up front, Long Beach State's tremendous depth has shown as 16 players have played in at least five of the team's six 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 all six games including Rola Badawiya, Sarah Pilster, Kayla Cannon, Makayla Soll and freshman Elysia Laramie.

• Long Beach State will once again face a tremendous non-conference schedule. On the slate are 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 is now in the Top 10, and grabbed a win in the opening weekend against SMU, at team continuing to receive votes same as the 49ers.

• 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.

• The Beach had three players selected to the 11-player preseason all-conference team as well. 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 RED STORM
• St. John's is led by sophomore forward Zsani Kajan who has scored six goals this season, half of the total for the Red Storm. The team's form has been strictly dictated by location, with St. John's going 3-0 at home including a 5-1 win over Stony Brook, but having only scored one goal in three losses on the road so far in 2018.

SERIES RECORD vs. ST. JOHN'S
• Rocio Rodriguez scored the game-winner in the first half of last season's meeting in Queens, a 1-0 win in favor of Long Beach State in the only previous meeting between the two schools.

Calendar

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Players Mentioned

Alyssa Alvarez

Rola Badawiya

Taylor Bistline

Kayla Cannon

Kaitlin Fregulia

Chloe Froment

Dana Fujikuni

Ashley Gonzales

Elysia Laramie

Sarah Maher

Imani McDonald

Sarah Pilster

Katie Pingel

Kaylee Ramirez

Rocio Rodriguez

Makayla Soll

Long Beach State University Athletics