Beach Soccer Faces Fullerton Thursday Night in Conference Home Opener

Thursday, October 10
Long Beach State vs. Cal State Fullerton
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: George Allen Field
Watch: Beach Vision | Live Stats

BEFORE KICKOFF
• Big West play opened on the road last week for Long Beach State, and the Beach split a pair of matches up the coast. LBSU earned a 2-1 come-from-behind win over Cal Poly, but couldn't repeat the feat in a 1-0 loss at UC Santa Barbara.

• The Beach earned its first comeback win of the season last Thursday, using a pair of late goals from sophomore Elysia Laramie to beat Cal Poly. The Mustangs took a 1-0 lead in the 24th minute, and were less than seven minutes from victory before Laramie scored her brace to put the Beach on top. Starting with an equalizer in the 84th minute, Laramie needed just 32 seconds to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead for Long Beach State.

• The equalizer came off a corner kick, which gave Kaitlin Fregulia a look at goal with a header. Her shot bounced off the crossbar and back into a crowded penalty area, where Laramie eventually got the decisive touch to push the ball over the goal line.

• Laramie added her second goal just 32 seconds later, fighting past a defender to get on the end of a long ball ahead from Katie Pingel before beating the UCSB keeper. The 32-second break between goals was just four seconds shy of the LBSU record for fastest back-to-back goals, set in 2004. But those goals were scored by two different players--Erin Empting and Allison Reeves.

• The Beach traveled to UC Santa Barbara on Sunday and suffered a 1-0 defeat against the Gauchos. UCSB took the lead in the 14th minute, and despite generating some quality second-half chances, Long Beach was unable to break through. Most notably, the Gauchos made a penalty save on Kaylee Ramirez's PK try in the 53rd minute to preserve the narrow lead.

BRACE FOR ACE
• Elysia Laramie's two goals against Cal Poly gave her the team lead in goals (3) and points (6) this season. It was the first multi-goal game of her career and the first for LBSU since Dana Fujikuni scored a pair on Sept. 7 of last year, part of a 6-0 win over St. John's.

• The two goals continued Laramie's dominance of Cal Poly in her brief career. In two meetings against the Mustangs, Laramie has three goals and two game-winners. Last season, her goal in double overtime gave LBSU a 1-0 victory over Cal Poly at George Allen Field. She now has three career goals against the Mustangs and two against all other opponents.

• Laramie also collected seven shots in the Cal Poly victory (with four of them on goal) to set a new career high.

SCOUTING THE TITANS
• Cal State Fullerton has the best record in the Big West Conference this season, going 8-2-1 on the year. The Titans are fresh off an impressive home win over UC Davis to open conference play, defeating the Aggies 4-0 on Thursday night. Senior Atlanta Primus set the program's career assists record in the win, collecting her 20th and 21st career assists for the Titans.

• Fullerton has a 6-1 record at home this season, and has gone 2-1-1 on the road with the loss coming Sept. 2 at Utah Valley, 2-1. The Titans have gone unbeaten in their last seven matches since that loss, outscoring their opponents 18-7 in that span with four clean sheets out of seven.

• Primus leads the Titans with 26 points, buoyed by an impressive 10 assists so far this season, which places her second in the nation in that category. She is tied for the team lead in scoring as both she and Maddie Bennett have eight goals scored on the year. Haley Brown has also been a key contributor with four goals and eight assists.

SERIES RECORD vs. CAL STATE FULLERTON
• The Titans hold a 12-8-3 advantage in the all-time series with the Beach and have gone unbeaten in the last four meetings. The teams played to a 1-1 draw last season in Fullerton with Primus scoring in the 3rd minute before Dana Fujikuni equalized for the Beach in the 71st minute.

PARIS TRIP
• Prior to the season, the Long Beach State women's soccer team went on a foreign tour to France for the 2019 Women's World Cup. The Beach played a pair of exhibition matches against the Argentina National Team during an 11-day trip to Paris and surrounding cities. LBSU then witnessed the Argentines earn their first Women's World Cup point during a 0-0 draw with Japan at the Parc de Princes. The Beach capped off the trip in Reims, France where the team witnessed Team USA's historic 13-0 victory over Thailand in their World Cup opener.

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Beach Soccer Faces Fullerton Thursday Night in Conference Home Opener

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Players Mentioned

Kaitlin Fregulia

Dana Fujikuni

Elysia Laramie

Katie Pingel

Kaylee Ramirez

Long Beach State University Athletics