Women’s
Soccer vs. SDSU, Hawaii
By Paul DeCarlo
In
a physical affair, Long Beach State women’s
soccer suffered another scoreless outing
and fell to Hawaii, starting the season
winless.
Despite
outshooting the Rainbow Wahine 13-11, no
shots sailed into the twine for the 49ers,
and the team lost again to another formidable
non-conference opponent.
On
Thursday, the 49ers traveled south and fell
to San Diego State 2-0. The Aztecs converted
a penalty kick in the 27th minute and connected
again with a score in the 69th minute to
put the game out of reach. The Beach has
faced strong opposition early in the season
with the University of San Diego and No.
4 ranked Stanford, and has lost three games
now by one goal apiece.
"I
think today we came together," said senior
forward Abie Curry of the young team’s performance
on Sunday versus Hawaii. "Even though we
didn’t win, we got our teamwork together.
It looked a lot (better) out here."
Fresh
off of a 2-0 victory at Northridge on Friday,
Hawaii kept the ball rolling at George Allen
field Sunday, and survived a late offensive
push by the Beach and held on for a 1-0
victory. The game’s only goal came in the
24th minute, courtesy of Robyn deHay, junior
forward for the Wahine. Assisted by midfielder
Mia Moe, deHay trickled a give and go pass
into the right side of the net from 10 yards
away, just out of the reach of sprawling
49er goalkeeper Meghan Hartwyk.
The
contest provided ample scoring opportunities
for both teams, along with a number of rough
collisions around the ball. Beach defender
Kat Avenando left the game following a midair
hit from Hawaii forward Natasha Kai. But
the aggressive style of play was welcomed
by the 49ers, who kept banging bodies with
the Wahine throughout the day. Midway through
the second half, Moe was taken off the field
on the shoulders of a trainer and another
player after a vicious crack from a Beach
defender.
The
aggressive Hawaii attack forced Hartwyk
out of the box on a number of occasions
to challenge scoring chances. In the second
half, the Wahine’s Kai broke free for an
uncontested shot that clanged hard off the
right goalpost. Hartwyk was credited with
two saves in a gutsy performance
With just under six minutes left in the
game, The Beach squandered a golden opportunity
by failing to score with an open net. Midfielder
Erin Empting’s shot sailed just high after
an excellent cross from a collision that
put the Hawaii goalkeeper out of position.
Empting and Curry both had three shots for
the 49ers to lead the offense.
Freshman
defender Heather Kindschi saw a vast improvement
from The Beach’s dismal outing at San Diego
State. "We held our own," Kindschi stated.
"We were right there with them every single
time they got the ball."
"They’re
a little bit stronger and more physical
than us," 49er Head Coach Peter Reynaud
said of the Wahine. "They have some big,
mature girls on that team." Reynaud added
that the team’s recruiting suffered prior
to his arrival. The 3rd year coach insisted
that with one more solid recruiting class,
The Beach could be much better. "Let’s face
it,"
Renaud
said, "the reality is that almost no recruiting
was done the last two years the previous
coach was here. We should have maybe four
or five seniors, instead we only have two."
The
first annual 49er Tournament will take place
next weekend with Eastern Washington, Southern
Utah and the University of Califonia Santa
Barbara battling it out at George Allen
Field Sept. 12 and 14. The Beach faces Eastern
Washington on Friday at 4 p.m. and Southern
Utah at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
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