|
sports:
women's soccer
49ers breeze past
Biola
By Phil Witte
On-line Forty-Niner
The Peter Reynaud
era at Long Beach State got off to a flying start as the 49ers
knocked off Biola 3-0 in an exhibition game last Thursday
afternoon at George Allen Field.
The game was Reynaud's
first in charge after taking over in the off-season for Julie
Cochran, who began the program three years ago.
"I thought
the team played very aggressive, very hard and very well,"
Reynaud said. "I was able to do a lot of subbing and
see players in different positions."
The 49ers dominated
the game from the outset, using the new, more aggressive style
introduced by Reynaud to pressure Biola every time they touched
the ball.
The fans did not
have to wait long for some excitement, as midfielder Sarah
Aguilar put The Beach ahead nine minutes into the game. Defender
Kim Stempkowski blasted a free kick that was too much for
Biola goalkeeper Erin Van Horn to handle, and Aguilar pounced
on the rebound and slotted the ball home.
For most of the
rest of the first half LBSU controlled the play, snuffing
out all of Biola's attacks, but were unable to put together
any real creativity of its own.
"I'm not happy
with our passing in this game," Reynaud said. "That's
something we really need to work on."
Defensively, though,
the 49er defense was impenetrable and goalkeeper Jihann Elgizzar
did not face a shot until the 41st minute of the first half.
The second half
was more of the same as Reynaud used his whole bench to try
out players in different positions before the regular season
starts. Twenty minutes in the 49ers put together a stretch
that showed the great potential the team has going into the
season.
After winning the
ball outside the penalty box, midfielder Diana Sanguinetti
lobbed a dangerous shot that Van Horn had to leap toward to
knock over the crossbar. On the ensuing corner kick, the Biola
defense cleared the ball all the way to midfield, where forward
Abie Curry collected the ball to knock it back into the box.
What resulted was an early candidate for goal of the season
when her chip slipped into the goal over the jumping Van Horn.
"I was trying
to chip it over everyone back into the box," Curry said.
"I wasn't really trying to score."
Four minutes later
The Beach finished the scoring when Kelli Barrett grabbed
another Van Horn rebound and hit the back of the net.
Since it was an
exhibition, Reynaud tried to use as many new players as possible
as six freshmen saw playing time.
"By the time
the season starts, we'll probably have three or four freshmen
in the starting line-up," Reynaud said.
Notable among the
newcomers were defender Alexandria Rowinksi, who took five
shots on goal, forward Kristin Travis, who menaced the Biola
defense with her speed, and Sanguinetti, who took a team-high
seven shots.
For the game the
49ers showed its attacking prowess by outshooting the visitors
27-4 and showed its tenacity by leading in fouls 22-11.
The 49ers open
the regular season in Sin City on Friday when it faces UNLV
at 7 p.m. in the UNLV Invitational. Following that match-up
is a game against St. Mary's on Sunday at 2 p.m., also in
the tournament.
The home campaign
kicks off on Friday, Sept. 7 at 1 p.m. against Azusa Pacific.
|
