49ers winless in Big West

By Claire Howie
Online Forty-Niner
Staff Writer

The Long Beach State women's soccer team had another disappointing weekend of Big West play. The 49ers traveled through five states, played two conference matches and added two more losses to their winless Big West record.

The 49ers were just 3:11 away from their first conference win Friday afternoon as they faced Utah State, but a late offensive surge from the Aggies sent the game into overtime and ultimately resulted in a 2-1 loss for The Beach.

Both teams played impenetrable defense for the first 45 minutes of the contest. It wasn't until the 58th minute that 49er forward Kristin Travis found a gap in the Aggie defense. Travis received a cross from midfielder Allison Wiegand and rerouted the ball past Utah goalkeeper Megan Mills for the goal.

The 49ers' defense continued to shut down the Aggies. However, with just 3:11 left in the game, a cross from USU freshman Dana Peart found the top of midfielder Michelle Haws' head before being guided into the net. Haws' goal sent the game into overtime with a score of 1-1.

Haws earned her third point of the game when she placed a cross from the right side directly above fellow Aggie, Charlsie Harris, who headed it past LBSU goalkeeper Meghan Hartwyk for the win.

"This is a tough loss to swallow," Head Coach Mauricio Ingrassia said. "We had the game won. We definitely played well enough to win, but didn't make smart game-winning decisions."

With the 2-1 overtime victory, USU improved to 5-7-1 overall, 2-1-1 in the conference and extended its undefeated home stand to six games.

The disappointment continued Sunday morning for the 49ers as they fell 3-1 to Idaho in the last away match of the season.

"We simply got out played. We didn't have a lot of energy. Give credit to Idaho, they came into the match to play," Ingrassia said.

The Vandals came out strong and in the 16th minute of play, scored the first goal of the contest. Midfielder Lindsey Kihm assisted on the goal when she sent the ball towards forward Jenny Springer, who found an opening in the lower left corner of the net.

The 49ers returned fire just over one minute later when midfielder Erin Empting sent a ball past Idaho goalkeeper, Lindsay Smith and into the net at 16:29.

Idaho gained a comfortable two-goal lead at 69:43 when Melissa Martinazi capitalized on one of the Vandals' three scoring attempts for the half.

LBSU remains winless in conference play with the 3-1 loss to Idaho. The team returns to Long Beach for their final three matches of the regular season, the first of which takes place this Friday at 3 p.m. against cross-town rival UC Irvine.