When the Long Beach State women’s soccer team returns to George Allen Field on Aug. 23 for its season opener, the majority of its players could be playing on the 49ers’ home field for the first time.
With several walk-on players, 12 freshmen and a trio of transfers participating in practice this week, head coach Mauricio Ingrassia said he will have to make cuts before he finalizes the official roster on Friday. The 49ers will have their roster ready in time for an exhibition home game against Florida International on Aug. 16.
After losing seven seniors last season to graduation, the 49ers are forced to move on this year without two standout players, forward Nadia Link and defender Alex Balcer. Link was the Big West Offensive Player of the Year and an All-American each of the last two seasons, and she and Balcer were both named to the NCAA All-West Region team last year.
“Whenever you lose people like that, they’re not replaceable,” Ingrassia said. “But you hope the team rebuilds itself … in such a way that you’re solid.”
With a roster composed of many new, young faces, the ‘Niners will likely center their team around five returning starters, including senior midfielder Eileen Maes, junior midfielder Taylor Nelson, sophomore forward Elizabeth Lyons and sophomore midfielder Hannah Sanders.
“We definitely have the roster, that if all things kind of fit in, in time, I think we could do a lot of great things,” Ingrassia said.
Because of her scoring successes last year, Maes will likely assume the offensive leader role that Link left behind. Maes’ nine goals last season ranked second in the Big West, while her 21 points ranked third.
With sophomore Kaci McCain as the only returning goalkeeper, Ingrassia said that the team has brought in four new goalkeepers during preseason practices to add healthy competition for the three final keeper spots.
The 49ers failed to reach the Big West tournament last season, keeping them from winning a third straight conference title. They reached the NCAA tournament for the third consecutive year but fell to Santa Clara in the opening round.
The ‘Niners will face five of last year’s NCAA tournament participants in the regular season, including a rematch with Santa Clara on Aug. 29.
The schedule will include two additional marquee rematches, as the ‘Niners visit Texas Tech on Sept. 1 before hosting Elite Eight contender Brigham Young on Sept. 21. LBSU lost to both teams last year, with its loss to Texas Tech coming in double overtime.
“It’s going to test us early,” Ingrassia said. “And that’s what I want. I want to test our young team early. The more environments we can be in, the more they’re going to learn and we can push forward.”
The team has now graduated its entire backline that helped the ‘Niners reach the Elite Eight in 2011. But Ingrassia, entering his 10th year as LBSU’s head coach, said his expectations to get that far again remain high due to an existing tradition implemented by his eight-year-long coaching staff.
“We’ve built some tradition, and tradition is the best motivator, so people know what’s expected here,” Ingrassia said. “It’s a good place to be for us, to try to live up to the recent history of our program.”
LBSU will play its exhibition game against Florida International at 6 p.m. on Aug. 16. It will then open its season at 7 p.m. on Aug. 23 with a match against Northern Arizona.