WESTWOOD, Calif – The No.24 Long Beach State women’s soccer team kept one of the top teams in the nation off the scoreboard for 82 minutes, but in the end UCLA’s talent proved a little too much for the 49ers, as the Bruins squeaked out a 1-0 win Sunday afternoon at Drake Stadium on the UCLA campus.
Kristina Larson scored the matches lone goal when she got behind the defense and made no mistake from outside the penalty area, placing the ball beyond the outstretched arms of 49er goalie Liz Ramos and into the net.
“It’s unfortunate we got caught there at the end, but I was really proud how the girls played in the second half,” said Long Beach State head coach Mauricio Ingrassia.
In the first half, No. 5 UCLA dominated from start to finish. The Bruins out shot the 49ers 10-0, and narrowly missed scoring multiple times.
Their closest opportunity came in the 42nd minute when Molly Kruger fired from 20-yards out, forcing Ramos to completely extend herself. She was able to deflect the ball enough to have the ball hit the crossbar.
The Bruins had plenty of shots in the opening 45 minutes, but the LBSU defense forced most of their shots from outside the penalty box.
“The defense was amazing today,” Ramos said. “Natalie [Messina] and Julie [Megorden] were great in the middle, and the entire defense deserves a lot of credit.”
In the second half, LBSU did better on the offensive side of the field, and came close to scoring in the 50th minute.
On the 49ers first corner kick of the match, Kim Silos hooked the ball to the top of the 6-yard box, and Hayley Bolt headed the ball just wide of the post.
“After halftime we realized we could compete with them, and we came out with a little more attitude and started to bring the game at them,” said freshman midfielder Sarah Strohl, who started her first match of her career on Sunday.
The Larson goal in the 83rd minute ended a 352-minute shutout streak to open the year for the 49ers. In four games this year, LBSU has yielded just 17 shots, eight of which came Sunday.
Last year, in its opening match of the season, UCLA beat LBSU 3-0.
