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sports:
women's soccer
Soccer's goals
high for season
By Phil Witte
On-line Forty-Niner
Three years ago,
Long Beach State started its women's soccer program and Julie
Cochran, who had never had a head-coaching job, was the named
to start it from scratch.
The program made
great strides under Cochran's guidance, but never quite got
over the hump. In Cochran's three years, the 49ers didn't
post a winning record, topping out at 7-8-3 last year. But
that record included a third-place finish in the Big West
Conference with a 4-2-2 mark.
When Cochran left
the program abruptly in November of last year, LBSU didn't
skip a beat, naming Peter Reynaud as the team's new head coach.
Reynaud brings 19 years of collegiate coaching experience,
including the last six at Fresno State, to The Beach. Reynaud
also coached Cochran during her college days at Sonoma State.
Reynaud inherited
a team that was on a roller coaster ride last season. After
starting 3-0-1, including back-to-back shutouts of Nevada
and Cal State Northridge, the 49ers endured a seven-game losing
streak which included two tough home conference losses, one
in overtime to Cal State Fullerton and a 1-0 setback to UC
Irvine.
Defying the odds,
the team broke the losing streak with back-to-back 1-0 road
shutouts of conference power UC Santa Barbara and eventual
2000 Big West champ Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. The Beach then
backed those wins with a 4-1 thrashing of Pacific -- a team
that had defeated the 49ers by scores of 4-0 and 7-1 the previous
two years.
The unbeaten streak
lasted three more games, but was not enough to wrestle the
conference title from Cal Poly.
The 49ers lose
three players from last year's squad: defender Kim Domen,
forward Lacy Brown and midfielder Jennifer Reott, a first-team
All Big West selection.
The loss of Reott's
leadership leave's a gap the team's veterans will look to
fill.
"I think the
leadership duties will be split by some of the more experienced
players," said senior defender Amber Glende. "Kim
Stempkowski, Caitlin Murphy [both seniors], Becky Ricci [a
junior] and myself have been around for a while and will lead
by example."
Eight starters
return from last year's squad, but Reynaud said some new faces
would be in the starting lineup.
"I expect
to have at least three or four freshmen starters this year,"
Reynaud said, adding that freshman midfielder Diana Sanguinetti
is a sure starter and fellow freshman Kristin Travis will
likely start in the front line.
Reynaud's system
emphasizes fitness and he started workouts as soon as he got
on campus.
"We started
working hard [upon Reynaud's arrival], hitting the weight
room and playing pick up games," Glende said. "Our
practices last two-and-a-half hours and they push us to the
max."
The 49ers open
up the season Friday at the UNLV Invitational and begin their
home schedule Friday, Sept. 7 against Azusa Pacific. Game
time is set for 1 p.m. at George Allen Field.
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