Winless through its first two games, the Long Beach State women’s soccer team will host a pair of opponents this weekend at George Allen Field.
The 49ers (0-1-1) failed to get on the scoreboard against USC and Georgetown, the latter of which is currently ranked no. 20 in the NCAA top 25 ranking. Head coach Mauricio Ingrassia, though, isn’t too concerned with the final results.
“We controlled the games,” Ingrassia said. “We played really well. Those are two really good teams. We’re not going to see a more athletic team than USC this year.”
Ingrassia stressed that his team remains confident, and with time they’ll adjust and improve. Still, he laments the missed opportunities.
“We controlled both games for sure,” Ingraassia says. “We had the best chances. We finished really strong. We feel of the game had lasted another five minutes we would’ve won it. We weren’t good enough in front of the goal.”
The 49ers will now focus their attention to the weekend, where they’ll Georgia and Denver for their first two home games.
“Georgia was one of the best teams we played last year,” Ingrassia said. “They’re underrated, pretty athletic, and a really good challenge for us. Both teams are very well coached, very formidable opponents. I could see them both finishing with double digit wins.”
The 49ers’ first opponent will be Georgia (1-1-0) on Friday night. The Bulldogs are off to a solid start, blowing out North Carolina Greensborough 3-0 in their season debut. Like the 49ers, the bulldogs return their top scorer in sophomore Marion Crowder. Along with Crowder will be fellow sophomore Gabby Seiler, who scored two goals in the season opener. Crowder scored the lone goal in a 1-0 Georgia win over Long Beach State last year.
While they’re not as high profile as Georgia, Denver (0-1-1) may very well have the better team. Despite losing their top two goal scorers, the Pioneers have sport a roster littered with seniors and experienced underclassman. Redshirt sophomore Francesca Gazelloni was third on the team last year with seven goals for a team that went an impressive 18-2-1, including 7-1-1 on the road.
The 49ers lost last year’s home opener to Northern Arizona, but have otherwise performed extremely well at home in recent years. In 2011, they went undefeated at home (10-1-0). In 2012 they went 7-3-0. It was last year that was the real struggle for the 49ers, as they were barely able to play above .500 at home (4-2-3).
Playing better at home will surely be an emphasis going forward for this team. Winning on the road is hard enough. To have to rely heavily on road wins wouldn’t bode well for the team going forward.
Ingrassia likes what he’s seen from his team so far, and is excited to see how the rest of the season will unfold.
“I’m really encouraged,” he says. “We’ve played really well. Sometimes you can’t control the results all the time. We want to get to the end of the year maximizing our potential.”