Long Beach State Women’s Soccer Set to Open Regular Season at CSUN

Thursday, August 19

Northridge, Calif.

7 P.M.

Long Beach State University

CSUN

Photo by: John Fajardo

Long Beach State Women’s Soccer Set to Open Regular Season at CSUN

8/17/2021 2:22:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Game Notes

The Beach will play their first regular season game in 653 days.

LONG BEACH, Calif. – Long Beach State women's soccer is opening their 2021 regular season with a non-conference matchup on the road against CSUN.

Thursday, August 19
Long Beach State at CSUN
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Matador Soccer Field (Northridge, Calif.)
Live Stats | Watch: ESPN+

BEFORE KICKOFF
• Long Beach State returns to the pitch for the 2021 season after the 2020 season was cancelled due to COVID-19. The team went 4-12-1 in the 2019 campaign, missing the Big West Tournament for just the second time since 2013.

• The Beach did get to enjoy a five-game spring season back in April, and went undefeated outscoring their opponents 12 goals to one despite a full year of no team workouts. Their wins came against Big West foes, UC Irvine, CSUN, CSU Bakersfield, and UC San Diego with the fifth match being against Azusa Pacific.

• The Big West preseason poll was announced on Thursday, Aug. 12 and the Beach found themselves in the top spot with 106 points, edging out defending champion Cal State Fullerton by two points. The Beach received one first-place vote while five other schools also received votes led by UC Irvine's four first-place votes.

• In addition to the top spot in the poll, senior defender Kaitlin Fregulia was named to the preseason All-Conference Team. She was the lone Beach representative and one of just two defenders on the list.

• The fall campaign kicked off with an exhibition against FC Golden State on Monday, Aug. 9. The Beach put on an offensive showcase in front more than 1,000 fans, recording 30 shots and coming out with the victory 3-1. Lena Silano led the way with two goals and Kayla Cannon recorded game-winner in the 58th minute.

• The Beach's second exhibition game came against Loyola Marymount and resulted in a 1-0 shutout victory over the Lions. The lone goal came from Nadiyah Siqueiros with assists from Summer Laskey and Maddy Perez. Morgan Houston-Shepherd made a pair of huge saves in the second half and a goal line header team save from Kaylee Ramirez secured the victory in the final 15 minutes.

• LBSU is staying close to home this season with all 20 of their matches coming against western teams. In fact, they will only play three non-California schools (Washington, Montana, Hawaii) and the only road contest of those three will be against the Huskies up in Seattle.

• Despite a strictly west coast schedule, the Beach will face tough competition including three PAC-12 opponents in UCLA, Washington, and California marking the most PAC-12 opposition in a regular season since 2010.

• Speaking of tough competition, the United Soccer Coaches pre-season poll has the Beach playing two teams ranked in the top 25 (#5 UCLA, #19 Washington) and one more team who is receiving votes (Pepperdine).

• There are 10 new faces joining the team this year, all of which are incoming freshman. Among them are two forwards, three midfielders, four defenders, and a goalkeeper.

• The newcomers will be joining the entire group of 25 student-athletes that were slated to play the 2020 season before it was cancelled. Among that group is four Power 5 transfers, three from the PAC-12 and one from the SEC.

• Among some of the notable returners is three-time All-Conference selection and 2017 Defensive Player of the Year, Kaitlin Fregulia. She was named an All-Big West Second Team selection at the end of the 2019 campaign.

• Returning for her third season in the black and gold is Lena Silano. The junior forward enjoyed a very successful summer playing for the Santa Clarita Blue Heat. She led her squad to the UWS National Championship scoring the game-winning goal and earning Finals MVP.

• The injury bug struck the Beach in the offseason, sidelining three players for the entirety of the 2021 campaign. Most notable of them is 2019 All-Big West First Team selection, Elysia Laramie, who suffered a torn ACL and will be out of action all year.

CREATING A DYNASTY
• Over the the last decade or so, the Beach has been a dominant force in the Big West Conference claiming four Big West Tournament titles and two regular season titles. They have been to the conference tournament finals six different times since 2010.

• Beyond the Big West Conference, Long Beach State has made their presence known nationally as well. Since 2008, the team has made seven NCAA Tournament appearances including a run in 2010 where they reached the Elite 8.

SCOUTING THE MATADORS
• CSUN missed out on their 2020 season just like the Beach did, but went 12-7-3 in the 2019 campaign losing in the Big West Championship match.

• The Matadors return 18 players from that 2019 season, including four All-Conference honorees led by Second Team selection Amanda Delgado in goal. Forward Alexis White returns after tying for the team lead with six goals two years ago.

• CSUN was picked to finish fifth in the preseason coaches poll totaling 75 points. Their lone representative on the preseason All-Conference team was goalkeeper Amanda Delgado. In 2019, she allowed a 0.98 GAAvg recording 76 saves in 19 games.

SERIES RECORD vs. CSUN
• Long Beach State leads the all-time series 14-10-3, but lost the last meeting, 1-0, against CSUN in 2019. The Beach has not won at Matador Soccer Field since a 1-0 victory back in 2015.