With only 38 seconds left in the game the Long Beach State women’s soccer team scored a goal to secure a 3-2 victory against Hawaii on Sunday night at George Allen Field.
The Rainbow Warriors (3-13-1, 0-7-0), who are winless in conference play, came in as underdogs against LBSU (10-5-3, 4-2-0). The Rainbow Warrior’s head coach Michele Nagamine said they played well against what she called a “good” 49er team.
“The kids persevered very well and gave a very good team a run for their money,” Magamine said. “Unfortunately, we lost our focus and didn’t track back on defense in the last minute. That’s what happens when you give a good team time and space.”
Sophomore forward Ashley Gonzales saved the 49ers again, netting her sixth game-winning goal of the season in the 90th minute of play.
The goal was Gonzales’ eighth of the season, and she’s one goal away from matching her total from 2014.
Although they were heavy favorites, the 49ers started the game on a sour note. In the fifth minute, Hawaii freshman defender Sarah Lau scored a goal by beating the 49er defenders on a corner kick to put the Rainbow Warriors up.
The 49ers kept their composure and scored in the 29th minute after Gonzales sent a shot through the goalkeeper’s legs on an assist by freshman forward Fatmata Kamara. Then in the 33rd minute, sophomore forward Victoria Bolden crossed two defenders and sent a ball to senior midfielder Hannah Sanders, who scored the 49ers second goal.
Hawaii refused to go away, and in the 79th minute Lau scored her second goal of the game by putting in the rebound off of freshman goalie Imani McDonald’s save.
Gonzales got the game winner 10 minutes later to put the 49ers in a three-way tie with Fullerton and UC Santa Barbara for first place in the Big West.
Sunday was McDonald’s second start of the season after junior Ashton McKeown dislocated her shoulder last Friday against UC Riverside. Head coach Mauricio Ingrassia said McKeown’s status is questionable for the final game of the regular season, but he praised McDonald’s effort filling in for the standout goalie and getting her second win after shutting out CSU Northridge on Thursday.
“[McDonald] has had two solid games for us and she’s stepped up when the team has needed her,” Ingrassia said.
After dropping back-to-back games against UC Riverside and UC Irvine last weekend, LBSU needed a win against the Matadors (10-6-1, 3-1-1) in Northridge on Thursday to keep itself in the postseason hunt.
LBSU got the win they needed on a late goal from senior center back Melanie Fox. Sophomore Jessica Vincent got the assist after delivering a cross to Fox from a free kick. The defender headed in her first career game-winning goal in the 80th minute.
The goal was also Fox’s fourth of the season, with the other three coming from a hat trick in a 6-0 win against Portland State on Sept. 6. She ranks second on the team behind Gonzales.
The 49ers take the field next this Thursday against the UC Davis Aggies. LBSU will play their season finale on 6 p.m. at George Allen Field.