The sounds of upbeat music could be heard from ASI’s Smorgasport event, but the cheers from fans at George Allen Field was even louder after the Long Beach State women’s soccer team defeated Northeastern 2-1 Friday night.
Long Beach (2-1) had an aggressive start as senior midfielder Rocio Rodriguez pushed through the Huskies defense and took a shot on goal in the first minute. The early aggression continued as senior forward Ashley Gonzales put the ball in the back of the net in the seventh minute.
The team showed a great improvement from their performance against SMU, in which their offense struggled. While the players did their part on the field, the fans kept up the energy as well.
“When we lose the ball the cheering helps us to get it back and gives us a lot more energy,” junior midfielder Katie Pingel said.
Long Beach maintained the same level of intensity throughout the second half. After an eleven-minute back and forth battle, Gonzales placed a corner kick in the perfect spot for Pingel, who caught the Northeastern goalkeeper off guard and settled the ball into the net. Plays like these showed the team’s ability to communicate and work together under pressure. When explaining the chemistry of the team, Gonzales simply said: “It’s amazing.”
Just when the 49ers thought the game was in their hands, starting senior goalkeeper Imani McDonald was subbed out due to an injury. She was replaced by freshman goalkeeper Ashley Seymour, and Northwestern capitalized on the unplanned switch. The Huskies scored on a corner kick within two minutes of the substitution. The shouting intensified from both sides when the score grew closer than expected at 2-1.
Despite the attempted comeback, Seymour and the 49ers defense did not let up. The team stayed relaxed and held the game down until the very last second, taking it 2-1 for its second win of the season.
“We’ve got to watch the film,” head coach Mauricio Ingrassia said. “We got scored on in a corner, we have to see what happened.”
Even with two wins in their back pocket, the 49ers cannot sit too comfortably. Expecting a tough match at 6 p.m. Sunday against San Diego State, Long Beach plans to use Saturday to prepare for the match.