The Long Beach State women’s soccer team will face Big West Conference leader Cal State Northridge in the 49ers’ last home game of the season at George Allen Field on Thursday night.
The 49ers (7-5-5) jumped to third place in the Big West after a two-game road sweep against Hawai’i and UC Davis. Head coach Mauricio Ingrassia said his team is finally back to a normal practice schedule after all the traveling.
“It was a good road trip for sure,” Ingrassia said. “Especially with all the adversity and injuries we’ve had. All the wear and tear of the travel, to be able to play together and get two shutout wins is big on the road.”
Ingrassia said the most important thing for his team during a short week is freshness. He wants them to be as well-rested as possible after dealing with the time change.
“It was tough in terms of the travel,” Ingrassia said. “Hawaii had us kicking off at 7 p.m. their time, which is 10 p.m. our time. We had to have our team stay up later, and wake up later than they’re used to. Coming back [to California], we lost hours because the jet-lag set in.”
For LBSU seniors, team captain and defender Taylor Nelson; defender Natalie Zeenni; goalkeeper Kaci McCain; and forward Matisse Hemingway, this will be their final home game.
Ingrassia said that, while it’s very important to honor the departing seniors, it’s still just another game.
“At the end of the day, it’s 90 minutes,” Ingrassia said. “I know Taylor [Nelson] kind of can’t believe it’s gone by so fast. It’s emotional, but they have to understand that we’re not done yet.”
Ingrassia said he talked to his team about maintaining focus and reminded them that they’re still playing to collect wins and points. He said he doesn’t want the emotion of the game to cloud their goals.
“There’s plenty of time to celebrate the seniors – banquets and stuff like that,” Ingrassia said. “It’ll be a good ceremony, but we have to focus on what we need to do.”
The 49ers will play Big West leader Cal State Northridge in their last home game of the season. Ingrassia said CSUN’s overall record doesn’t tell the whole story.
“They’re a team that wasn’t picked to be in the front of the league, but obviously is excited to be in front of the league. ” Ingrassia said. “A week ago they were four or five points clear of everybody. Now they’re tied for first. It’ll be an interesting matchup.”
The 49ers will continue to rely on their stout defense when they face the Matadors. LBSU has only conceded one goal in five matches since giving up three to Cal Poly in their Big West debut.
Sophomore goalkeeper Ashton McKeown was named the Big West Defensive Player of the Week for the second consecutive week. The LBSU goalkeeper had back-to-back clean sheets to secure road games against Hawaii and UC Davis.
The 49ers will host CSUN on Thursday at George Allen Field at 7 p.m.