Soccer Faces Road Test At UCLA Before Returning To Host Utah Valley

LONG BEACH, Calif. -- The Beach resumes their local rivalry with UCLA this week in a matchup between two of the best in the west, before returning to George Allen Field to host Utah Valley for the first time.

AN ANNIVERSARY YEAR FOR THE BEACH
• The Long Beach State women's soccer team was revived after an 11-year hiatus beginning back in 1987. With its revival in 1998, the upcoming fall season marks the 25th anniversary of Beach soccer since the program was restarted.
• On a similar note, the Beach is also celebrating its 15th anniversary since the program made its first ever NCAA appearance in 2008. Since then, they have appeared in NCAA Tournaments, including the 2011 Elite Eight. The seven appearances is most in Big West history.

THE INGRASSIA ERA REACHES 20
• Head Coach Mauricio Ingrassia will be leading The Beach for the 20th year of his coaching career. In that time, he has posted a 188-128-48 overall record and 79-53-28 mark in Big West games. He has racked up a total of nine Big West titles combining the regular season and postseason to go along with seven NCAA appearances.
• He is currently the third longest tenured coach in The Big West with his overall win total and conference win total ranking third behind Cal Poly's Alex Crozier and UCSB's Paul Stumpf. His .582 win percentage ranks second among active Big West coaches and fifth in league history.

GET SOCIAL WITH US
• Fans can follow all of Long Beach State Athletics on Facebook, X (@lbsuathletics), Instagram
(@lbsu), and on Tik Tok (@lbsuathletics).
• The women's soccer team is also on social and can be followed on both Twitter and Instagram at
@lbsusoccer.

ABOUT LAST WEEK
• Long Beach State rallied from behind courtesy of an Elysia Laramie 88th winner to collect a massive home win over No. 22 Harvard.
• The Beach then followed that with another success on the road, taking down Fresno State 1-0 up in the Central Valley.
• With the shutout against the Bulldogs, the Beach has now held their opponent scoreless in each of their last two road games.
• It was all about twos for Brooklyn Antonucci last weekend. With two assists and two 90 minute outings in two wins, the freshman won two Big West awards, being named both the Freshman of the Week and the Defender of the Week.

CLIMBING THE RANKS
• Long Beach State received four points in the latest United Soccer Coaches poll, unofficially placing the Beach 29th in the nation, just outside of the Top 25.
• Additionally, Long Beach State climbed to No. 3 in the West Region poll from United Soccer Coaches, rising one spot from last week and is the highest ranked team in Southern California, sitting behind only Santa Clara and Gonzaga.

SEASON SYNOPSIS
• Head Coach Mauricio Ingrassia and Long Beach State once again challenged themselves with another tough schedule. Of their 19 games this year, seven come against teams that made last year's NCAA Tournament including six that appeared in the final Top 25 rankings. Five of this year's opponents also posted winning percentages north of .700 a year ago.
• The schedule features 11 games at George Allen Field headlined by premier opponents Texas, Boston College, Harvard, UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara, and Cal Poly.

PRESEASON COACHES POLL
• As its done every year, the coaches of The Big West voted in the preseason poll which resulted in Long Beach State being picked to finish first with 87 points. In one of the most closest polls ever, the top four teams were separated by just nine points.
• Defending regular season champion, Cal Poly, were picked to finish second while defending Big West Championships title winner, UC Irvine, were picked third. Rival Cal State Fullerton rounds out the top four.
• In addition to the projected standings, the coaches voted on an All-Big West team which featured junior defender Maddy Perez and sophomore forward Cherrie Cox.

ROSTER ROUNDUP
• The 2023 Beach roster features 29 student-athletes made up of 16 returners and 13 newcomers. Of the 13, eight are incoming freshmen, four are Division I transfers, and one is a junior college transfer.
• Sticking to the California roots, 25 of the players are from the Golden State with three from out of state, and one international player.
• The positional breakdown is four goalkeepers, nine defenders, nine forwards, and seven midfielders.

NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
• Sixth year captain Elysia Laramie enjoyed a historic first week to begin her final collegiate season. In the team's two games, she totaled five goals and an assist for an 11-point week with history attached.
• She began the week with a goal and an assist against No. 15 Texas before finding the back of the net four times in the Beach win over Boston College.
• The performance earned her National Player of the Week honors from Top Drawer Soccer headlinging their weekly Team of the Week. She was also named this season's first Big West Offensive Player of the Week.

ACE MAKES HISTORY
• As mentioned, Laramie had a historic opening week, primarily against Boston College. In the 4-2 win, the Simi Valley native scored all four goals all of which came in a 15-minute window during the start of the second half.
• The four goal night is the first in program history and Laramie's eight points sets a new single-game record. It is also the twelfth occurence of a player scoring four-or-more goals in Big West history and first since 2014.

THE CHERRIE ON TOP
• Sophomore Cherrie Cox had a tremendous opening week performance as well, totaling seven points in the two games tallying a pair of goals and three assists.
• The preseason All-Big West selection is coming off an incredible debut season that earned her Big West Freshman of the Year and an All-Big West Honorable Mention leading into a spot on the WPSL Coastal Division Best XI this past summer.
• Cox was injured during the BYU contest, but is hopeful to return soon.

MORE WEEK ONE HISTORY
• Cox also made her own history during the season's opening week to go along with her seven point performance.
• In the season opener, she registered the opening goal against No. 15 Texas in just 41 seconds after the first whistle. It is the fastest goal scored in program history which had been 43 seconds set in 2013.
• Her encore performance for game two came in the makings of a three-assist game against Boston College. It is just the fifth occurrence in program history of the feat and first since 2014.

ANCHOR IN THE BACK
• Maddy Perez returns for her junior campaign coming off her second consecutive All-Big West First Team selections and an All-West Region honor. The midfielder-turned centerback has led the Beach in minutes on the pitch in each of the last two seasons.
• The 2021 Big West Freshman of the Year also enjoyed a terrific summer in the WPSL where she was named to the Coastal Division Best XI as well as Defensive Player of the Year honors.

ZORA'S ZONE
• Junior Zora Standifer returns and expects to see significant time in goal once again. Across her first two seasons, she totaled nearly 1800 minutes in net in 23 games. In that time, she allowed just 17 goals for a 0.85 goals against average while making 85 saves and posting a 0.833 save percentage.
• After debuting against Boston College this season, Standifer has made five starts and 22 saves while posting two shutouts and a 4-1 overall record.
• Standifer's latest shutout came on Sunday, making a season-high six saves on the road at Fresno State.

SUMMER AT THE BEACH
• Junior forward Summer Laskey is back for her third year. A sparkplug off the bench last year, she was tied for the second most points on the team with 15, registering six goals and three assists.
• Her most notable performances last year included a brace against Fresno State and the game-winning goal in the Big West Championships semi-final against Cal Poly.

WE WANT MOORE
• Sophomore Julia Moore returns for her second year in black and gold after a tremendous rookie season in 2022. Starting all 21 games last year, she totaled 1777 minutes which ranked fifth most on the team.
• She scored her first career goal against Cal State Bakersfield while adding assists against UC San Diego and CSUN last year.

CEJA THE STRIKER
• Senior Kassandra Ceja played her first three collegiate years at Fresno State where she etched her name into the record books. Totaling 16 goals, she ranks tenth in program history for goals scored in her career. The striker also added nine assists for a total of 41 points with a .500 shot on goal percentage. Last year, she started 11 of 17 games totaling 11 points.
• Ceja was named the Big West Offensive Player of the Week on August 28 after her brace on the road at San Diego State in a 3-0 win over the Aztecs.

GATORADE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
• One of the top newcomers joining the roster this season is freshman Jordan Candelaria. An attacking midfielder, she was named the New Mexico Gatorade Player of the Year at the end of her senior year of high school when she scored 26 goals and 15 assists.
• Originally committed to the University of Cincinnati, she finished high school a semester early, spent the spring season with the Bearcats before transferring to Long Beach this summer.
• Candelaria opened her account with the Beach at Fresno State, scoring the winner in the 1-0 victory.

INTERNATIONAL TALENT
• An international prospect, Kana Uchida comes to the Beach from Japan. Most recently, she served as a starting defender for JEF Ichihara Chiba, one of the top club teams in Tokyo. With them, she won a pair of National Club Youth titles and the U-18 National Cup title.
• The rookie also has national team experience, playing for Japan's U-17 National Team in 2021.

NO SLEEP TIL BROOKLYN
• A very decorated freshman, Brooklyn Antonucci is expected to make a big impact on the defensive end for the Beach in her rookie campaign. In three years of varsity at Etiwanda High School, she helped her team to three league titles will earning three All-CIF First Team selections.
• As a senior, she was named Inland Empire Player of the Year and Etiwanda Athlete of the Year as well as her second straight Baseline League MVP award to wrap up her high school career.
• Antonucci claimed two Big West awards after a two assist week in wins over #22 Harvard and Fresno State, nabbing both Big West Freshman of the Week and Defender of the Week September 4.

FROM LIONS TO THE BEACH
• The Beach are welcoming five transfers, including a pair from Loyola Marymount in midfielder Makayla Demelo and forward Amanda Perez.
• Demelo played all 17 games last year with 11 starts for the Lions, registering an assist and a 0.417 shot on goal percentage. From a talented family, her sister Savannah played four years at USC and is a current member of the US Women's National Team.
• Perez played 15 of the 17 games last year, coming off the bench. After making her collegiate debut against UC Irvine, she registered goals against UC San Diego and San Francisco to notch four points in her rookie season.

PROFESSIONAL BEACH
• The Beach currently have three alumni amongst the professional ranks around the world with Lena Silano playing for the Washington Spirit in the NWSL, Kaitlin Fregulia playing for Xolos Femenil in Mexico, and Aimee Medwin playing for Western United FC in Australia.
• Silano is the second LBSU alum to appear in the NWSL after becoming the second draftee in program history in last year's draft.

SCOUTING THE BRUINS
• Previously the consensus No. 1 team in the country, UCLA slipped to No. 4 in the latest rankings after suffering a 3-1 road defeat at BYU.
• A common opponent, Long Beach State fell 2-0 in Provo earlier this year.
• Ally Cook has three goals for the Bruins, leading a group of six goal-scorers for UCLA in the young season.

SCOUTING THE WOLVERINES
• Big scores have been the hallmark for Utah Valley so far this season, with 5-1 and 6-0 wins to go with 5-0 and 6-1 losses to their local rivals in Utah and BYU.
• Playing on the road at Hawai'i, their only Big West opponent, Utah Valley goals leader Faith Webber scored in a 1-1 draw in Honolulu.
• Sunday marks the first meeting between the two teams.

Calendar

Soccer Faces Road Test At UCLA Before Returning To Host Utah Valley

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Brooklyn Antonucci

Jordan Candelaria

Kassandra Ceja

Cherrie Cox

Makayla Demelo

Elysia Laramie

Summer Laskey

Aimee Medwin

Julia Moore

Amanda Perez

Maddy Perez

Lena Silano

Zora Standifer

Kana Uchida

Long Beach State University Athletics