November 3, 2007
49ers clinch a share of the Big West title
WOMEN'S SOCCER: Silos has a goal and an assist in the 2-1 victory.
By Dave Werstine
Staff Writer
LONG BEACH - With its season on the line, needing two victories this weekend, the Long Beach State women's soccer team came through like a true champion.
The 49ers, who picked up a big win against Cal Poly on Friday afternoon to lock up a berth in the Big West Conference Tournament, still had some unfinished business to attend to Sunday in their regular-season finale.
L.B. State continued from where they left off Friday, defeating UC Santa Barbara, 2-1, at George Allen Field and clinching a share of the BWC title for the second consecutive season.
"I think we found our character," said coach Mauricio Ingrassia, who has turned what had been an average program at best into not only a perennial power in the conference but a contender in the West Region and, hopefully, a player on the national level. "Our backs were against the wall, but we came back and the girls took full advantage of the opportunity."
The victory moved the 49ers (13-6-0, 6-2-0) into a first-place tie with CS Fullerton (11-6-1, 6-2-0), followed by Cal Poly (7-9-2, 5-2-1) and UC Irvine (11-6-2, 5-2-1) tied for third place.
Those four teams will square off this weekend in the BWC Tournament, the winner getting the
conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The event will be hosted by CSUF, which earned the No. 1 seed in a head-to-head tiebreaker against LBSU. The 49ers will face third-seeded Cal Poly at 5 p.m. and CSUF will take on UCI at 7:30 p.m. in single-elimination matches at Titan Stadium. The winners will meet Sunday at 1 p.m."I told the girls not to over-celebrate," Ingrassia said, "because the big one is next weekend."
Last season, the 49ers, who shared the title with UCSB, lost to Cal Poly, 2-1 in double overtime in the first round. This year, they feel a bit more ready and mature, especially after the way they shook off tough 1-0 losses to CSUF and UCI and dug down deep to play with tremendous heart over the final weekend.
"It's nice to win back-to-back," said Kim Silos. "Friday was about clinching a spot in the conference tournament and today was about winning a championship. We wanted to go all out and do the whole thing. I really feel we can go all the way this year."
The 49ers followed up their best game of the season with one that was close Sunday.
After a solid but scoreless opening half that saw LBSU take control of the flow of the game, the 49ers broke through right away in the second half.
Silos took a pass from Sahar Haghdan, turned and launched a rainbow shot from 30 yards into the top-left corner of the net for a 1-0 lead less than a minute in.
With the 49ers continuing to press the action, fourteen minutes later they took a 2-0 lead. Kristen Kiefer broke in on goalie Katie Wright, who made the initial stop. Kiefer moved the rebound to Silos, whose shot was deflected, and Haghdan was in the right place at the right time at the left side of the net to knock the ball in.
"I like the way we are playing," Ingrassia said. "We are peaking at the right time."