The Long Beach State women’s soccer team fought back to earn a 1-1, double-overtime draw against Cal Poly to open Big West Conference play on Friday.
After trailing the match, 1-0, senior forward Nikki Myers delivered the game-tying goal in the 87th minute to send the game into overtime under light showers and thunder at George Allen Field.
The 49ers (7-3-2, 0-0-1 Big West) tied the game when senior Karina Camacho delivered a short pass that found an unmarked Myers, who then turned around and tapped it in from three yards out.
“We started off really slow, but we knew we couldn’t lose this game,” Myers said. “Coming back like that really showed a lot about our character.”
In the 70th minute, Cal Poly’s midfielder Tiffany Gummow broke the scoreless tie when she launched a 20-yard chip shot that sailed through the hands of LBSU goalkeeper Emily Kingsborough.
Both teams played aggressively as they combined for 41 fouls and three yellow cards.
“Today, we had to adjust to [a referee] who wasn’t going for any type of contact at all as the ball was in the air, which is a little unreasonable,” 49ers head coach Mauricio Ingrassia said. “But at least it was consistent.”
Mustangs (5-5-1, 0-0-1 Big West) midfielder Julie McKee earned a yellow card in the 70th minute after her hard shove drove LBSU midfielder Lindsay Bullock into the ground.
Defender Leslie Barkmann also picked up a yellow card in 101st minute after tripping Bullock on a far-side breakaway. Less than a minute later, Bullock also received a yellow card of her own.
Mustangs goalkeeper Brooke Gauvin sustained a bloody nose early in the second half after an attempted shot from Bullock ricocheted into her face.
Kingsborough came through in the clutch as she tallied two consecutive diving stops in the 97th minute to finish the game with four saves, while Gauvin tallied six for Cal Poly.
The Beach’s best opportunity to break the 1-1 tie came during the 105th minute when Camacho nearly missed the goal as she fired a free kick that deflected off the left post.
After a slow start from both teams in the first half, LBSU dominated both sides of the field in the second half leading to a 10-4 shot advantage for the ‘Niners.
The 49ers’ efforts fell short, however, as their inability to convert shots on goal plagued them throughout the entire game.
Three minutes into the second half, forward Nadia Link’s lead pass found striker Nicole Sweetman, whose open shot rolled wide of the left post.
Minutes later, Sweetman mistimed her header as another cross by Link nto the box sailed over her head and passed an unmarked Bullock before going out of bounds.
The 49ers out-shot the Mustangs 16-10 and held the advantage in corner kicks, 5-2.
Sweetman posted a game-high four shots, while Myers and Link each had three shots apiece. Gummow and forward Cici Kobinski paced the Mustangs offense with two shots.
“We missed some goals today, but the team refused to lose,” Ingrassia said. “I’m proud of [the team] for how hard they fought and got back into the match.”
LBSU continues Big West Conference action on Sunday as it hosts UC Santa Barbara. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.
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