The Long Beach State women’s soccer team heads into its final two regular-season games this weekend in sixth place and as one of six conference teams still uncertain of a postseason berth.
The ‘Niners will host Cal State Fullerton on Thursday and UC Riverside on Sunday at George Allen Field, with each game potentially determining LBSU’s postseason fate.
As it currently stands, the only teams that have clinched spots in the Big West tournament are first-place Cal Poly and second-place UC Irvine. Of the seven teams below those two, six are battling for the remaining two tournament spots, and all stand within a mere three-point difference.
Because of such tight circumstances within the conference heading into the season’s final weekend, a multitude of scenarios around the Big West are still possible in determining LBSU’s shot of making or missing this year’s postseason.
“I think you could look at it both ways,” head coach Mauricio Ingrassia said, “because even if we would have had the points there, we would have had to get points this weekend because if we didn’t, we would have got caught from behind.”
The 49ers’ chances of making the postseason might rely less on what they do this weekend than what teams around the conference do, which suggests LBSU’s severe state of tournament limbo.
After receiving a red card late in Friday’s loss at Cal State Northridge, Taylor Nelson has been declared ineligible to play for the ‘Niners this Thursday against the Titans. She will, however, be able to start for the team in Sunday’s crucial season finale against the Highlanders.
The ‘Niners have struggled during conference play in converting scoring opportunities into goals, as they scored just one goal total in the four games they either lost or tied.
LBSU has been without its key scorer Eileen Maes for six weeks after a knee injury and has had issues staying consistent with its offense between wins against top-tier teams like Brigham Young, Texas Tech and UCI.
“We’re working on figuring us out offensively and trying to figure out what to do without Taylor [Nelson] on defense and getting after it in front of our fans [starting Thursday],” Ingrassia said.
If the ‘Niners have a distinct advantage over several of the other six teams fighting for a tournament spot, it’s that they still have two conference games remaining to collect points while four others have a single game to do so.
The Beach is UCR’s only remaining opponent this season, which meand Sunday’s match will be the Highlanders’ last opportunity to make the postseason.
This year’s chase for a conference tournament spot is different than the 49ers’ postseason chase a year ago.
Last year the ‘Niners had a much higher RPI heading into its final weekend of the season than they do this year, by a difference of nearly 30 teams, so they qualified for the NCAA Tournament despite falling short of the conference tournament.
It is more likely this year that LBSU will have to finish conference play strong if it’s planning on playing in a postseason. Ingrassia said the goal in obtaining that will be taking the experience the team has gained so far this year and, ideally, using it to manufacture two final wins to ensure a playoff spot.
“When you’re able to create chances, that’s the first step,” Ingrassia said. “You have to be able to create them before you put them in. We’ve created them. Now it’s just a matter of sticking them in.”
The ‘Niners will host CSUF on Thursday at 6 p.m. and UCR on Sunday’s Senior Day at 2 p.m. Both matches will be played at George Allen Field.