Long Beach State (7-3-2) left George Allen Field on Friday with a 1-0 victory over the UC Davis Aggies (5-3-2) to open Big West Conference play.
In the 37th minute of the first half, the lone goal was scored by 49ers senior Sahar Haghdan as she netted her first goal of the season.
After an ill-advised pass by Aggies defender Lauren Huntley, the ball went straight to the middle of the field near the top of the goal box. Senior Hayley Bolt read the play and made a quick pass to a streaking Haghdan.
Haghdan carried the ball to the left side of the goal but Huntley was right on her tail. The Aggies defender tried to recover with a slide tackle but Haghdan maintained possession and booted the ball past UC Davis goalkeeper Sarah Peters.
Haghdan was injured last year with a sports hernia, but according to her, the goal couldn’t have come at a better time.
“Last year I was non-existent. I feel like I tried as hard as I could but my legs weren’t doing anything for me,” she said. “If anything I was playing at 50 percent. I feel good though now, and I am ready for the conference. It’s the perfect time right now.”
Head coach Mauricio Ingrassia agreed.
“She needed that. She really did. She was on a little dry spell, but she waited until it really counts to give us the game winner. I’m happy for her,” Ingrassia said.
The 49ers appeared to have the momentum right out of the gate but UC Davis was able to fight back.
The Aggies had a couple good of scoring chances early in the first half, including a free kick taken by Samantha Faber after a hand ball by LBSU goalie Liz Ramos.
The kick sailed just above the crossbar to keep the ‘Niners up by one.
UC Davis played strong near mid-field as they tenaciously contested The Beach multiple times.
Long Beach really did not have too much control in the first half, except the scoreboard.
The second half opened up with a good chance for LBSU to increase their lead as a scoring chance ensued right in front of the Aggies’ net.
Several players fought for position and possession of the ball, but LBSU gained control and attempted a shot that went up and over the net to keep the score 1-0.
The Aggies kept fighting back though as they had a great scoring chance by Marisa Boge.
Boge raced down the field with about 7:35 left in the game but Ramos made a fantastic diving save to keep the lead.
The Aggies’ four-game winning streak was stopped by the ‘Niners’ seventh shutout of the season.
Haghdan said the win was very important for the development of the team.
“I think for our team coming out, it wasn’t our best game but I mean these are the type of games we’re going to go through in the conference,” Haghdan said. “Just pulling through at the end and working hard is what’s going to get us the win.”
LBSU is looking to use this win to garner some momentum to potentially snap out of their “Sunday slump.”
“I’m just looking to come out with energy because we’ve struggled on Sundays,” Ingrassia said. “We got to go a full 90 minutes because four of our five negative results have been on Sunday. We need to get some rest tonight and tomorrow night because we need a full two-game effort this weekend.”
The 49ers return to action Sunday for a noon showdown against the Pacific Tigers.