By Long Beach State women’s soccer lost 2-1 against No. 19 University of Texas after conceding two goals in the last 25 minutes on Sunday night at George Allen Field.
The Beach rode into Sunday’s contest on a huge wave of momentum following their upset victory over the University of Hawaii in the season opener, but a scoreless second half kept them just short of pulling off back-to-back major upsets.
Texas had no answers for The Beach’s early defensive schemes as they were held shotless in the first 20 minutes of the contest.
Long Beach State sophomore forward Kailey Supa battles University of Texas freshman midfielder Ava Cashman for a header during a match at George Allen Field on Aug. 17. Ethan Cohen | Long Beach Current
LBSU junior defender Zoe Willis passed the ball over the heads of the backline defense of Texas, finding junior forward Radisson Banks to fire a shot from inside the box, but it was thwarted by freshman Texas goalkeeper Mateya Dessieux in the 22nd minute.
Early offensive struggles led to frustration fouls for the Longhorns, giving LBSU possession just past midfield.
The Beach were able to capitalize after LBSU junior defender Kylie Perez booted the ball inside the box, landing just in front of sophomore defender Natalie Arnold for a shot blocked out to junior forward Cherrie Cox for an open goal right foot tap in to put The Beach ahead 1-0 in minute 35.
The goal marked the 2023 Big West Offensive Player of the Year’s first goal back from injury after missing the entire 2024 season.
“I’m a player that’s coming back from a lot of things, and it’s a personal mission, and finally getting one in after having a couple unfortunate chances… It’s giving me that momentum to keep going,” Cox said.
The Beach defense played strong in the first half, holding Texas to just four shots after having 16 shots in the first half of its season opener loss against Northwestern State.
LBSU forced an early corner in the second half, leading to a shot struck from freshman forward Natelle El Mokbel. The shot passed the mispositioned Texas goalkeeper but was kicked out and cleared by a Texas defender.
LBSU challenged the ruling of ‘no goal’, but after review, the call stood, confirming the defender cleared the ball before crossing the goal line.
A corner fail on one end of the field ended differently on the other for Texas in the 65th minute. A Texas corner found freshman forward Audrey Bryant, scoring her first career goal to even the score.
After the goal, “Let’s go, Texas” and “Let’s go, Beach” chants battled one another to win the momentum of the tied-up contest.
The sixth nationally ranked freshman recruiting class led Texas to victory after Bryant cross-passed to freshman midfielder Sadie Hoch, scoring her first career goal in the 80th minute to put Texas up 2-1.
The Beach outshot the 2024 Southeastern Conference champs 20 to 11, but could not find the back of the net for an equalizer.
“I thought we played very well. We could’ve scored a couple more,” LBSU head coach Mauricio Ingrassia said. “We didn’t defend on a set piece, so that’s going to eat at me all night.”
The Beach will go on the road for their next three games, with their first being against the University of Washington on Thursday, Aug. 21.
