October 19, 2007

49ers' road bright after tough injuries
Key road wins have LBSU unbeaten in Big West Conference.
By Dave Werstine, Staff writer

LONG BEACH - The outlook would appear to be very good for the Long Beach State women's soccer team heading into the third weekend of play in the Big West Conference.

The 49ers are off to a 3-0-0 start in quest of back-to-back BWC titles. After battling injuries over the past couple of weeks, they are beginning to get healthy again. And they don't have to travel more than 20 miles or so the rest of the season.

"But we still have a lot of work to do," warned coach Mauricio Ingrassia, whose BWC front-runners host Cal State Fullerton (7-6-1, 2-2-0) today and UC Riverside (8-5-1, 2-1-1) on Sunday at George Allen Field.

Over the past several weeks, the 49ers have been bitten big-time by the injury bug, with the likes of Kim Silos, Kristen Kiefer, Grace Shevlin and Tiffany Vaught all missing time.

Still, L.B. State (10-4-0) managed tough road wins at Pacific, UC Davis and CS Northridge. In two of those games, the 49ers had to come from behind.

"Conference road games are brutal," Ingrassia said. "But we are 3-0. I would have been ecstatic to be 2-1. (Coming from behind) showed good character, poise and leadership. It shows we are maturing as a program."

And now the team is beginning to come back to health, especially up front. Silos, the 49ers' leading scorer, has been back in the lineup despite a still-sore ankle and second-leading scorer Kiefer, who went down with an ankle injury in the BWC opener and hasn't played since, could be back on the field this weekend. Defenders Shevlin and Vaught could be back as soon as the following weekend.

At this point, the injuries have made the team stronger by making it deeper.

"Injuries are part of the game. We just have to overcome them," Ingrassia said. "The last couple of years, we haven't had any major injuries to take away any significant people and playing time. This year is evening up things.

"But we are building a mindset where people can come in and contribute on call. And the players who have been called on have responded well. It's nice to see."

And what is going to be even nicer to see in the next few weekends is more of George Allen Field, where the 49ers have won 18 of their past 21 regular-season games.

The 49ers, after playing nine of their first 14 games on the road, play four of their final regular-season games at home, where they are 4-1 this year (the lone loss coming to highly ranked USC). The only road game they have left is Oct. 26 at UC Irvine, just a short drive down the 405 Freeway.

"Playing at home, that's always meant a lot to us," Ingrassia said. "It gives us a boost, and we are not an easy team to play against at home. The fan support this year has been great. I think we lead the conference in attendance."

Long Beach State enters the weekend leading the BWC with nine points, but there are four teams lurking not far behind. UCR is next with seven points, and Fullerton, UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly are tied with six points each. The 49ers have games remaining against all of them.

A sweep this weekend would greatly improve the 49ers' chances of winning the BWC title again, but it won't be easy. Of those previously mentioned three home losses, two of them have come at the hands of the Titans and Highlanders, who are a combined 4-1-3 against the Ingrassia-era 49ers.

Sunday's game against Riverside, which Ingrassia calls the 49ers' "nemesis," could be for first place if both teams win Friday.

"It's going to be a good test for us this weekend," Ingrassia said. "A couple more wins this weekend would really help distance ourselves from the pack."