November 1, 2007

49ers hold fortune in their own hands
BWC title is theirs if they win twice this weekend.
By Dave Werstine, Staff writer

LONG BEACH - Junior central defender Sara Baca put the Long Beach State women's soccer team's chances of repeating as Big West Conference champion about as bluntly as possible.

"It's kind of do or die at this point," she said following practice Thursday morning.

Heading into the final weekend, the 49ers, who have the advantage of being at home, need to win their final two games - today at 2 p.m. against first-place Cal Poly and Sunday at noon against UC Santa Barbara - to claim the title.

After winning three matches to open the BWC season, LBSU was in first place, looking like an easy choice to remain there. But losses in two of their last three have pushed the 49ers (11-6-0, 4-2-0) into fourth place.

They come into the weekend with 12 points, trailing Cal Poly (7-8-1, 5-1-0) and Cal State Fullerton (10-6-1, 5-2-0) by three points and UC Irvine (10-5-2, 4-1-1) by one point. And UCSB (6-8-4, 3-2-1) is right behind, two points shy of the 49ers. UCI and CSUF played late Thursday night.

Long Beach State might be down - following tough 1-0 losses on fluke goals to CSUF and UCI - but it's anything but done because they know the silver lining is this: Two wins this weekend and the 49ers remain BWC champs.

"It's a two-game season. We win two games and we win league. We are keeping it simple like that," coach Mauricio Ingrassia said. "There are a lot of other scenarios, but we are the only team playing for a conference championship at home. No one else can say that."

Yes, there are several other scenarios that could play out this weekend, with four teams vying for the conference title and five teams vying for the four spots in the BWC Tournament, the winner of which receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

To make the BWC Tournament, the 49ers will have to win at least one game. A victory against UCSB on Sunday would appear to do the trick. But first things first, as the 49ers, who are still reeling a bit after losing Tuesday at UCI, feel they still have a conference championship at stake.

"I think the girls realize that we still have everything to play for," Ingrassia said. "They understand that we have played better than anyone else we've played (except for the loss to USC). Everything is right at our feet, including the conference title."

49ERS NOTES: Starting goalkeeper Liz Ramos, who injured her lower leg Tuesday when she was cleated by a UCI player, will not play today and probably not Sunday. That means that junior Breanna Truelove will take over in net. Left back Grace Shevlin returned to the lineup Tuesday after missing three weeks with an injured ankle. ... Amanda Perry, Katelyn Quaresma and Hayley Bolt were selected to CoSIDA's Academic All-District teams. Perry received the honor for the third straight year, this time moving up to the first team. She carries a 4.0 GPA in kinesiology. Quaresma was chosen to the second team with a 3.91 GPA in psychology and a minor in business. Bolt made the third team with a 3.32 GPA in human development.