By More than 1,000 fans showed up for Saturday evening’s women’s soccer game at George Allen Field, and the 49ers didn’t disappoint.
Long Beach State edged out a 1-0 victory over No. 11 Brigham Young in front of 1,082 fans, the third-largest attendance in the history of George Allen Field.
The 49ers (5-3-0) were sharp all-around, needing a single goal, solid defense and three saves by goalkeeper Kaci McCain to hand 11th-ranked BYU (5-2-1) its second loss in a row and only its fourth in its last 32 games.
“We took care of the ball, which was something that last weekend was a problem for us and now looks like two games in a row it’s ingrained in what we’re doing,” head coach Mauricio Ingrassia said.
Having not scored a goal in the first half of any of its seven games this season, The Beach took the field in second-half form from the very beginning. After opening the game by dominating possession for the first 13 minutes, the ‘Niners scored the only goal they’d need to complete the upset over the Cougars.
“People like that [statistic], but I don’t care if we never score in the first half, personally,” Ingrassia said. “As long as we win the game.”
Senior Eileen Maes charged the net before colliding with BYU goalkeeper Erica Owens near the top of the box around the 18-yard line. Maes was helped off the field, and BYU was handed a foul. Meanwhile, the eventual game-winning play was being set up.
While Rangel prepared to take the free kick awarded to LBSU after Mae’s collision, BYU formed a five-player wall about eight yards outside the goal.
Rangel delivered a perfect shot that sent the ball sailing into the upper right corner of the net for her third career goal.
One lesson that Ingrassia has preached to his team since the beginning of the season is learning how to play together by experiencing new situations as a single unit. After the goal in the first half, Ingrassia said, the team assumed an unfamiliar mentality of defending a lead rather than trying to make one.
“It was good for the team to have to go through that, to deal with it,” Ingrassia said.
The ball was evenly distributed between the two teams for the majority of the second half until BYU took control, attempting its last three shots in 10 minutes near the end.
Of BYU’s nine total shots, its final attempt came closest to tying the game. BYU forward Ashley Hatch took an open shot in the 87th minute that ultimately met the hands of a diving McCain, who blocked the potential game-tying goal.
“That was a game-winning save that [Kaci McCain] made,” Ingrassia said. “She made a huge save to keep the game for us today — to win the game for us.”
McCain has recorded thirteen saves over LBSU’s last three games while only allowing two goals. McCain said she had to alter her defense in Saturday night’s game because of BYU’s wide shot-range tendencies.
“Normally you don’t expect players to be comfortable enough to take shots from the 18, but with BYU, they were,” McCain said. “They’re very dangerous offensively.”
Saturday’s win over the Cougars was LBSU’s second against ranked opponents this season, with the other coming in a 3-2 victory again No. 23 Texas Tech on Sept. 1.
“It’s just a great feeling,” McCain said, “knowing that with such a young team and small team that we can accomplish big things like this and can have big wins, and it’s just helping build a great program.”
The 49ers will take the field at George Allen again on Thursday for a 6 p.m. game against San Francisco before heading to San Diego the following Monday.
