Link strikes twice, delivers game-winner as LBSU clinches No. 2 seed

What a world of difference a week makes for the Long Beach State women's soccer team.

Just seven days removed from sitting in fourth place in the conference standings, the 49ers secured themselves a No. 2 seed and home-field advantage in the first round of the Big West Tournament.

In a match that produced six goals — five in the final 26 minutes — LBSU star forward Nadia Link struck twice and scored the game-winning goal in a thrilling 4-2 victory over the University of the Pacific on Senior Day Sunday at George Allen Field.

"It feels great," LBSU head coach Mauricio Ingrassia said of clinching the No. 2 seed in the Big West. "We set out to do this three games ago and slowly but surely we're accomplishing each and every one of our goals, and now it's playoff time."

The 49ers (13-5-1, 6-2-1 Big West 18 points), who have appeared in the four-team conference tournament in six of the last seven years, will host No. 3-seeded Cal State Northridge (6-9-2, 4-3-1 Big West 13 points) at George Allen Field on Thursday at 2 p.m. The only meeting between the two teams this season resulted in a disparaging 1-0 loss for the 49ers, who surrendered the match's only goal in the final minute.

"We definitely wanna show [Northridge] how we really can play," Link said. "We had a lot of opportunities against them that we didn't capitalize on, so we want to focus on that and giving it to them as payback."

Meanwhile, UC Irvine (15-3-2, 6-1-1 Big West 19 points), which clinched its second straight Big West regular-season title, will face No. 4 UC Davis (11-6-1, 4-3-1-Big West 13 points) at Anteater Stadium on Thursday.

Tied at 2, LBSU sophomore midfielder Kelsey Wilson delivered a cross that found an unmarked Link in front of the goal. From there, Link was able place the ball through the net in the 73rd minute with a header for her Big West-leading 14th goal of the season. It also marked Link's second tally of the match.

Link wasn't done just yet, though. Thirty-nine seconds later, the junior forward helped put the game out of reach as her cross found an open Jazz Strozier right in front of the goal line. Strozier then tapped the ball past the reach of Pacific goalkeeper Tashia Long before crossing the limit line.

Link put The Beach on board with one of the most impressive goals of her collegiate career. After retrieving Strozier's cross, Link made a Pacific defender lose her own footing without even making contact with her. The junior forward shook off the defender with a juke before sidestepping to deliver a rocket from the top-right corner of the box.

"[Link] has scored 14 goals this season and that's the most anyone in the program has scored since I've been here," Ingrassia said. "[Annette Fernandez] had 16 goals one year [1984], but I'm not sure what division, what conference, or how competitive that was. I respect it, but in this day in age, it's very difficult with soccer having come so far and Nadia scoring as many as she has."

The Beach's lead held up through the remainder of the period, but it wouldn't last in the second half.

The two teams went on an offensive frenzy after the break, combining for five second-half goals. The Tigers (8-9-1, 2-5-1 Big West 7 points) tied it up in the 64th minute, but not before a visibly frustrated Ingrassia was shouting at his players to get into their proper positions during a free kick that cost the 49ers the goal. Pacific's Brittni Beeman sent the kick to Liz Higashino, who was able to get a clear shot from about six yards out after the ‘Niners lost sight of her in the confusion.

"Everyone knew that the ball was going to be served in the box," Ingrassia said of the free kick. "You need your tallest headers to hit the ball out and you don't need them in the wall and marking up on the wide over there. … Sometimes, players get in the heat of the moment and they lose sight of things, or they get tired, but they did a nice job scoring."

LBSU responded just over four minutes later, though, as senior defender Nicole Hubbard notched her eighth goal of the year. Wilson's corner kick sailed across the box to Hubbard, who headed the ball to the near post to give LBSU a 2-1 edge.

The Tigers wouldn't go down quietly as they came back to even the score at 2-2 in the 73rd minute. Pernille Schulze-Larsen delivered a pass to Lauren Hogan, whose shot clanked off the inside of the post before catching the net.