Season Opener Against Kentucky
Faces change and so do the uniforms. There are new opponents, new cleats and new soccer balls.
But the one constant around the Long Beach State women’s soccer team is the expectation of another winning season. It’s the reward Coach Mauricio Ingrassia gets from consistently producing championship quality teams.
“You can just feel it,” Ingrassia said of the expectations his team faces this season. “They (players) are feeding off the energy of the group. It’s great, it’s exponential and it grows with each training.”
Ingrassia welcomes the annual challenge of reaching the postseason. In fact, he expects it. His teams have advanced to the NCAA Tournament five the past eight seasons, including last season’s at-large bid.
The 49ers, who won the regular-season Big West Conference title, lost to Santa Clara, 1-0, in the first round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament.
“Every year I expect to win games, win the conference, go to the tournament,” Ingrassia said. “We had the talent and it was a matter of brining it together. We were a little bit young last year, but by the time we got into full league play we won some big games.”
This season, the 49ers return largely their entire team, including eight starters from last year’s 12-7-3 squad. Senior midfielder Mimi Rangel, junior midfielder Jessica Vincent and leading scorer Ashley Gonzalez will be counted on heavily when Long Beach State opens the season Friday in an exhibition against Air Force.
The 49ers begin regular-season play Aug. 19 against Kentucky.
Gonzalez, an all-conference first team selection, posted 17 points on eight goals and one assist. Rangel, another first-team pick, had two goals and five assists for nine points last season.
Ashton McKeown will be back in goal full time for the 49ers after suffering a torn shoulder muscle that cost her five games late in 2015. The senior goalie returned for the postseason and posted a 0.62 goals against average.
“We went from 3-0 to 3-2 real fast as we were trying to figure it out,” Ingrassia said of the impact McKeown’s injury. “We had a freshman in (Imani McDonald) and finally the freshman ended up starting the last five games and did great. We won the conference in spite of that adversity and that was a big deal.”
Ingrassia said he also will be counting on senior Mimi Akaogi and sophomore Sarah Maher on the back line.
“This year, I know what I have,” Ingrassia said. “You always expect (to win) but it’s sports. So you always have to do your best and prepare for each game as it comes and have good training sessions. “
The 49ers will need to be prepared with four of the nation’s top-ranked teams on the schedule, including defending national champion Penn State (Sept. 4, George Allen Field). Long Beach State also faces No. 11 USC (Aug. 26), No. 16 BYU (Sept. 24) and No. 25 Loyola Marymount (Sept. 2) and perennial powerhouse UCLA (Sept. 18).
