The Long Beach State women’s soccer team fell just short in its pursuit of another Big West Conference tournament championship after losing 2-1 to Cal State Fullerton in San Luis Obispo on Sunday.
A win would have secured the 49ers’ fifth NCAA tournament appearance under head coach Mauricio Ingrassia. But Ingrassia said the team’s rating percentage index “is not in the range for an at-large berth this year.”
RPI is a quantity used to rank teams based on a team’s wins and losses and strength of schedule. It is one of the systems by which NCAA basketball, baseball, softball and soccer teams are ranked.
CSUF scored in the first minute of the game, and Titans’ sophomore forward Christina Burkenroad added another goal in the 10th minute.
LBSU responded later in the half when freshman forward Ashley Gonzales scored her ninth goal of the season and cut the deficit in half. But the 49ers didn’t score any more goals, and eventually lost 2-1.
The 49ers defeated Cal Poly Thursday night with penalty kicks after finishing in a 0-0 draw in double overtime. Junior forward Vania Robles scored the game-clinching penalty after sophomore goalkeeper Ashton McKeown saved a penalty.
The game was a rematch from early October, when Cal Poly defeated the 49ers 3-0 in front of the LBSU crowd. Ingrassia said the victory was a highlight, one the team will remember for a long time.
Big West’s Freshman of the Year Ashley Gonzales makes a penalty kick while her team watches anxiously behind her.
“I felt the game had ebbs and flows, and we did a great job of staying in it and turning the tide our way,” Ingrassia told LBSU athletics.
“The penalty kicks are something we practiced and we executed tonight,” Ingrassia said. “Ashton is a great shot stopper, so we knew she was going to get one for us, and there’s nobody that deserves this more, to get that last PK, than Vania.
Ingrassia said he’s very proud of his team; he said his players represented the program in great light.
“They’re champions who simply lost a game,” Ingrassia said.
He said one of the biggest takeaways from the season will be how the players responded to different challenges they faced throughout the season.
“I think there was tremendous growth throughout the season,” Ingrassia said. “And this will help us moving forward. We had to overcome adversity, like today having to play without both of our starting outside backs. The team dealt with it great.”
This has been a tough year for Long Beach State women’s soccer, a down year, one that should be forgotten. The NCAA Women’s Soccer Committee made the right decision in not inviting the Beach to the tournament. If don’t win my conference tournament, I deserve my season to end because my conference is mid-major and bottom of the heap.
Another of these seasons and I want Mauricio to go. This has been a balls-up awful year.