The Long Beach State women’s soccer team had a frustrating Sunday night at George Allen Field, losing to Big West Conference rival Cal State Fullerton 2-0 in the third game of conference play.
Defensive mistakes and counterattacks ultimately cost the 49ers (7-4-2, Big West 1-1-1) the match against the Titans, (9-3-2, Big West 2-1-0) resulting in the team’s first loss since Sept. 10 against Loyola Marymount.
Despite besting Fullerton in shots and corner kicks throughout the match, LBSU was not able to get past senior goalkeeper Morgan Bertsch who had a stellar performance in goal, notching six saves.
“I thought we did a lot of good things right,” head coach Mauricio Ingrassia said about his team’s offensive performance. “We had the right game plan, but we just didn’t execute.”
The Titans’ opened the scoreline in the 14th minute of play when the 49ers’ defense handed them a golden opportunity to score. CSUF’s freshman midfielder Samantha McKenna intercepted the ball from the 49ers inside their own half and managed to get past every defender in sight, finishing the solo play against sophomore goalkeeper Mia Hummel to give Fullerton the early lead.
“The girls worked really hard, but we just had some kind of silly mistakes that led to goals,” Hummel said.
Senior forward Tori Bolden had Long Beach’s best opportunity to score in the first half when she found the ball inside the opposing box and shot a back heel that Bertsch somehow managed to block.
Fullerton continued to look like the dominant team in the opening half, and it all came to fruition again in the 36th minute of play when the Titans doubled their lead off a textbook counterattack play.
Senior forward Sarah Fajnor shot a long cross that got past Hummel off the angle to give CSUF the decisive 2-0 lead.
Hummel noted lack of communication led to sloppy play in the backend for the 49ers.
“We just have to get better with our communication and by not making immature mistakes,” Hummel said.
The second half was dominated by the 49ers, but Bertsch’s heroics once again prevented the score from shifting in LBSU’s favor.
The team totalled 10 shots and five corner kicks in the second half alone, but it wasn’t enough to change the outcome of an eventual 2-0 defeat.
The 49ers will now begin a two-game away stint when they travel to Cal Poly on Friday and UC Santa Barbara on Sunday.