By snoadmin
The Long Beach State women’s soccer team ended its regular season Sunday with a 2-1 win over visiting UC Santa Barbara. The win marks a back-to-back Big West Conference title for LBSU, which it will share with Cal State Fullerton.
The 49ers (13-6-0, 6-2-0 Big West) now move forward to the Big West Conference Tournament this weekend.
Junior midfielder Kim Silos moved the 49ers ahead during the second half when she scored their first goal with an assist by junior forward Sahar Haghdan. Silos fired it in from 30 yards out.
Haghdan scored the second goal of the game after Silos rebounded a shot and freshman forward Kristen Kiefer passed it into the box. This was enough to keep the 49ers ahead of UCSB, which scored a late goal in the second half – the Gauchos’ only goal of the game.
“We found our character [while] we had our backs against the wall,” head coach Mauricio Ingrassia said. “[It felt good] to win the championship in front of our home crowd.”
Despite the win, Ingrassia doesn’t think the team has room to celebrate. The team knows it has big tournament games coming up during the coming weekend.
“[The girls] brought a lot of intensity and heart. They worked extremely hard [today],” Ingrassia said.
“[I’m] very excited about the win,” Silos said. “We knew that we had to win no matter what.”
The first half of the game moved slowly and ended with no scores for either team. Junior goalie Breanna Truelove had two saves. LBSU had an advantage in shots (6 to 5), while the 49ers and Gauchos each had six fouls.
The competition heated up during the second half, where the 49ers dominated the game. LBSU led UCSB in shots (13 to 6). The 49ers also led in fouls, earning seven more, while UCSB had only two.
“Maybe it was the halftime talk, I don’t know, but we came out on fire,” Silos said. “[UCSB] gave a really good fight, [especially] in the first half.”
Truelove had three big saves, one of which she kicked out of the box, preventing a much-needed goal by the Gauchos.
“Breanna did an outstanding job today,” Ingrassia said. “She got the crowd going.”
Silos said, “I feel like we came out with a lot more heart. [This] was a big difference from the Fullerton game.”
Ingrassia added that the team, as a whole, starred on Sunday. Ingrassia and the team said they are looking forward to what’s next for the tournament.
“We have to take it one day at a time,” Ingrassia said.
The final game opened with an emotional farewell for senior players Rachel Whiteaker, Amanda Perry and Katelyn Quaresma.
“The senior class is really special [to me],” Ingrassia said.
