Natalie Messina was named to the All-Tournament team at the Outrigger Hotels and Resorts Soccer Classic in Hawaii. Matt Brown/CSULB Sports Information

 

49ers get kicked around in Hawaii

By Claire Howie
Online Forty-Niner
Staff Writer

The women's soccer team began the team's longest road trip last Thursday when they departed for the Outrigger Hotels and Resorts Soccer Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii. The month long trip spans 5,700-miles for the soccer team, holding a current record of 3-2-1.

On day one of the classic, No. 30 Duke beat Hawaii 2-0. In the second day of play, the 49ers handed Duke the tournament title as they fell to the Blue Devils, 3-0.

Senior Casey McCluskey, a three-time ACC pick and strong candidate for All-American honors, put two goals away in the first half for the Blue Devils, one at the 20-minute mark and a second at 33:36.

Duke registered its third and final goal of the contest with less than 15 minutes of play left, when junior Carolyn Riggs received a pass, and flipped the ball up and over 49er goalkeeper, Tara Gotthardt.

The Beach was only able to get off two shots at the net in 90 minutes of play while the Blue Devils took 13 shots on goal in the first half and totaled 20 attempts for the game.

The loss snapped the personal 59-match winning streak of Head Coach Mauricio Ingrassia.

The 49ers finished third in the classic after a 1-0 upset loss to regionally ranked Hawaii in the third and final game of the tournament Monday night. The Beach finished the tournament 0-2.

49er defender Natalie Messina and MacKenzie Blechel were named to the All-Tournament team.

In Monday night's contest, Hawaii scored early in the second half when Natasha Kai stole the ball from 49er goalkeeper Meghan Hartwyk and a 49er defender, then knocked the ball into an empty net for the only goal of the game.

The 49ers made a late offensive charge. The offense was on the attack, firing seven shots at Rainbow Wahine goalkeeper Erin Chow. Chow recorded six saves and a well-placed Wahine defender saved the seventh shot attempt by Kristin Travis.

The 49ers were out shot 13-11 in this match and were out shot by their opponents 33-13 overall.

The Beach continues their month long road-trip on Friday against the University of San Diego (3-3-0). The game will be the third of seven straight away games.

Next week, the 49ers travel to Omaha for the Creighton Classic where they will face South Dakota State and Creighton, before beginning Big West play on the road, at UC Santa Barbara and then travel to 12th ranked Cal Poly in October.