Women's
soccer starts season with tough losses
By
Michael Bower
On-line
Forty-Niner
The
Long Beach State women's soccer team battled
it out until the final whistle in each of
its first two games of the season, but they
only have a couple of 1-0 losses to show
for it.
The
Beach faced two tough opponents in the University
of San Diego and the Stanford Cardinal.
USD finished last year at 11-7-3 while Stanford
finished last year a near-perfect 21-2.
"I
think we have played a very high level of
competition," head coach Peter Reynaud said.
"If we had beaten Stanford it would have
been the upset of the year."
The
Beach has just begun tackling its schedule,
which consists of five NCAA Tournament teams,
two of which are top-10 programs. The Stanford
Cardinal is ranked fourth and the University
of Connecticut is ranked eighth.
"I
deliberately schedule those kinds of games
because we got to play tough games, and
have to play tough games on the road," Reynaud
said. "I think once we play teams that are
at our level we will be fine."
Things
will not get easier for The Beach during
Big West Conference play either. The 49ers
were picked to finish fifth in the Big West.
The conference should be very competitive
this year as UC Santa Barbara, Cal Poly,
and CS Fullerton all landed first place
votes. Reynaud does not count his team out
though.
"With
a little bit of luck we can (win the Big
West)," he said. "The only thing we have
against us this year is that we play four
home and five away (games), and having the
extra game home (game) really helps."
Last
year the 49ers got off to a slow start,
as they were 0-5-1 after its first six games.
The Beach did pick up the pace though as
they finished strong going 6-4-4, with three
five-goal victories and the program's first
ever win over a ranked opponent.
Reynaud
is returning for his sixth season in the
LBSU program, and is leading a young 49ers
team that is returning seven starters. Nineteen
of the team's 24 players will enter the
season with one or less years of college
athletic experience.
"We
are very excited about this year," Reynaud
said. "We are a very much improved team
from last year."
The
49ers may be young, but they have four All-Big
West players returning. Junior Allison Wiegand,
a defender in 2002, is moving back to the
forward position for the 2003 season. Wiegand
led the team in scoring in the 2001 season
and earned second team All-Big west honors.
The
all-time leading scorer at LBSU, Abie Curry,
will be back in what is her senior year.
Curry racked up eight goals and two assists
last season, and is just one point shy of
becoming the points (goals equal two points
and assists equal one point) record holder
at LBSU. Curry has 24 career points and
is one behind current record-holder Kelli
Barrett.
The
49ers' season opener was a defensive battle
against a USD (1-0-0) team that held The
Beach (0-2-0) to just four shots on the
day. The 49ers' defense matched USD's in
the first half by limiting the Toreros to
just three shots, but USD finally broke
through by converting on one of its eight
shots in the second half.
The
lone goal of the game came after a short
goal kick from LBSU goalie Meghan Hartwyk
in the second half. USD's Marie Claude-Henry
picked off the pass just outside the penalty
box and passed to Michelle Rowe, who scored
from about 12 yards out.
In
another nail-biter, the Cardinal outlasted
The Beach when it scored in the 83rd minute
of the match to take the victory, 1-0, in
Palo Alto.
Allyson
Marquand stole a pass and fired a shot in
the upper right corner for the game-winner.
Hartwyk
kept the 49ers close by making two great
saves. The first save coming in the 53rd
minute of the match in a scoreless tie,
and the second coming in the 86th minute.
Hartwyk finished the game with five saves.
The
Beach could not muster up any offense though
as they were out shot 16-1. The Cardinal
held The Beach to no shots in the second
half, while Stanford had seven.
The
Beach's Natalie Messina, a defender, suffered
a severe injury to a muscle in her right
leg during the first half of the game. It
is unknown when she will return. Kat Avendano
also left in the first half with a concussion,
and is day to day.
The
49ers will travel to San Diego State today
before heading home to play Hawaii on Sunday,
at George Allen Field.
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