By The Beach fell short of claiming their first home victory of the 2024 season against a tough University of Washington (UW) team in women’s soccer at George Allen Field yesterday.
In a 2-0 win against The Beach, the experienced Washington team returned their entire starting 11 from last year, the only team in the Big Ten to do so.
The Huskies started the game off strong, winning a free kick at midfield which led to a header from junior midfielder Tatum Thomason, forcing a first-minute save from redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Aurora Schuck.
LBSU’s early defensive stops fired up the Long Beach home crowd as “Let’s Go Long Beach!” chants began to spread throughout the stands.
Freshman forward Grace Caldwell showcased her high work rate in a valiant defensive effort on Thursday night at George Alen Field in a 2-0 loss to Washington. Photo credit: Devin Malast
The Beach fired back on the Huskies with offensive strikes of their own as junior forward Liz Worden took on Washington’s defense and fired a shot that hit off the crossbar in the fifth minute.
A Schuck yellow card in the 13th minute had LBSU fans holding their breath as she collided with a Husky attacker just outside the box, narrowly avoiding a red card and a penalty while sparking controversy on the Husky sideline.
Husky senior forward Ioanna Papatheodorou found the back of the net late in the first half off a rebound from a deflection by The Beach but was ruled offsides, leaving the score at 0-0.
A great first half of offensive soccer seemed to be coming to a scoreless close until a late 44th minute foul on freshman midfielder Grace Caldwell gave UW a free kick just outside of LBSU’s 18-yard box.
Junior defender Kolo Suliafu took charge of the free kick and fired the ball into the middle of the box where 6-foot junior forward Kalea Eichenberger headed the ball over Schuck’s head into the back of the net, putting the Huskies up 1-0 with seven seconds left in the first half.
“I thought we played well enough and had enough in the first half to really get something going,” LBSU head coach Mauricio Ingrassia said.
Senior forward Kassandra Ceja played 51 out of 90 minutes of offense at LBSU’s George Allen Field but The Beach lost the match against Washington 0-2. Photo credit: Devin Malast.
Washington came out fast and aggressive in the second half with the momentum of their late first-half goal score on their side.
Washington inserted fresh players off the bench at the half, which resulted in an instant impact as sophomore forward Radisson Banks scored off a cross-field pass from freshman defender Alex Buck to make it 2-0.
Worden and junior midfielder Julia Moore led both teams in shots with two each but were unsuccessful in getting any past Washington’s junior goalkeeper Mia Hamant, giving the California native her third clean sheet of the season.
“We’re gonna regroup tomorrow and look at the film and turn the page and we’ll be ready for Sunday,” Ingrassia said.
The Beach will travel to Austin, Texas to play No. 16 Texas in another tough, non-conference challenge on Sept. 8.
