Pepperdine dominates Beach in finale

By Phil Witte
Daily Forty-Niner

The Long Beach State women's soccer team fell to Pepperdine, 7-1, Thursday afternoon in the final game of the season, proving that not everyone finds Malibu a pleasant place to visit.

It was the first time the 49ers (7-8-3 overall, 4-2-2 Big West Conference) ended the season with a loss and also the third straight season the team have lost to the Waves (13-5-0, 1-1-0 Western Athletic).

The Beach posted a program-best .472 winning percentage and finished the season tied with Idaho for third in the Big West with 14 points.

LBSU sophomore Jihan Elgazzar made her first start in net in six games and faced a ferocious Pepperdine attack that blasted her goal with 10 first-half shots.

Senior Ashley Lewis put the Waves ahead with a goal in the 24th minute off an assist by sophomore Kristi Bissonnette. Two unassisted goals by junior Amy Johnson before halftime upped the 49er deficit to three.

After the halftime LBSU freshman goalkeeper Hannah Cochrun found herself engulfed by the Waves, and it was only 11 minutes into the half before she gave up a goal to Bissonnette.

Two more Waves goals followed before LBSU junior Marisa Barragan scored a consolation marker in the 80th minute. A final goal from junior Carlie Stokes brought the final score to 7-1.

The four second-half goals allowed by Cochrun equaled her total for the previous 670 minutes and dropped her goals against average to 1.035.

Freshman Marcia Rewoldt and senior Jennifer Reott finished the season tied at nine for the team lead in points. Reott's team-high four goals ranks 10th in the Big West and Rewoldt's team-high five assists put her third in the conference.

A Big West title was within the team's grasp, but two early one-goal losses and two draws late in the season sealed the team's fate.

Speaking on the Big West results, Head Coach Julie Cochran said the team's finish this year would drive next year's team.

"We're very disappointed that we worked so hard and the title was right there just to not get it," Cochran said.

The season was a roller coaster ride for the team, with results always seeming to come in streaks.

Four games without a loss opened the campaign, followed by a program-long seven game losing streak, which was broken by a program-best six games without a loss.

"We really showed our strength when we beat [Big West champ] Cal Poly 1-0," Cochran said. "When I came here I said it would take three to four years to build a program and this year we showed we're growing past our mediocrity."