When the final whistle blew Friday night and LBSU’s win against No. 4 UCLA was cemented, it was only the latest piece of evidence that Mauricio Ingrassia has transformed the women’s soccer program.
The Bruins became the highest ranked opponent the 49ers had ever beaten. The win also made it a lucky 13 ranked opponents defeated by LBSU since Ingrassia took the head-coaching job.
The recent successes heavily contrasts LBSU’s early years under Ingrassia. In 2004, Ingrassia’s first season in charge, all that was asked of him was to take the 49ers to the Big West Tournament.
Now, the expectations for the soccer team are at the highest they’ve ever been. Ingrassia took some time to talk to the Daily 49er about some of this season’s objectives.
What’s your main focus this season? Is it always the next game or do you have an eye on the Big West Tournament?
Our program now has a history. When I first started [the focus] was just to get to the Big West Tournament, but now we’ve been to the [NCAA] Tournament, we’ve made a run, so the big picture for us is to go further than that and that’s to get to the Final Four. So, that’s what we’re working towards in the big picture. But, obviously you break that down and before we do that we’ve got to make the tournament, and before we make the tournament we’ve got to focus on one game at a time. We have the small picture, but yes we have the big picture overall; tradition is the best motivator.
You mentioned the objective in your first season, as head coach of LBSU, was to just make the Big West Tournament. Are there more differences than similarities now in your 12th year?
[That first year] is the whole world away; everything has changed, the expectations are much higher. The Players know that, we know that, the alumni know that and we work very hard to fulfill those expectations every year.Aside from tradition, was this summer’s Women’s World Cup also great motivator for your team and you as well, being a women’s soccer coach?
Absolutely, I think it motivated the country. And I think some people felt the excitement of the game and I do feel that it’s translating to the college teams. I’m seeing crowds that are increasing and I’m seeing more interest and people asking questions. I was able to speak in front of the century club and they were so jazzed about the [U.S. Women’s National Team] winning and I went and said a few words about the final and everybody was just 100 percent glued in. I think that [final against Japan], because it was so exciting with so many goals so early, I think it just captivated everybody. So yeah, I do feel like that definitely helped soccer in this country.
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How would you describe your style of coaching? Is there a style or formation that you go to every time?
Our style of play is positional play. We are looking to find superiorities all over the field, whether it’s in numbers or in position, and that’s what you saw on Friday night [against UCLA]. We move the ball to try to find the superiorities and the players have really taken that as their identity, which is really fun. It has taken us a couple years to really have it be engrained and Friday night was a great example of what we’re capable of doing.
Do you have any favorite coaches or teams that you like to watch and model your style of off?
We watch Barcelona, a lot. We watch teams that try to play the way we play. But I pay attention to all the games as well, I watch a lot of English Premier League games and I’m from Argentina so I watch the Argentinian League, my hometown team [Rosario Central].
Do you feel any pressure to win something, or make the NCAA Tournament since you haven’t been to the tourney in two years and haven’t hung a championship banner at George Allen Field in three?
We definitely want to get [a banner] this year and go to the tournament this year. Really it’s just a cycle, our main focus is to get to the NCAA Tournament and that’s why we load up with the types of games that we play, so we can give ourselves two opportunities: one with the RPI and significant wins and the other with winning out conference tournament… Definitely this year would be a good year to get back in.