After losing to San Diego State and Loyola Marymount in its previous two games, the Long Beach State women’s soccer team fell to the University of Pacific Tigers in its Big West Conference opener Thursday by the score of 1-0 at George Allen Field.
The loss pushes the 49ers (4-6, 1-0 Big West) and gives them a disadvantage going into conference play.
In the first half, nothing seemed to be going the 49ers’ way and it couldn’t have been more noticeable when the Tigers’ midfielder Maricela Padilla took a shot from the right side of the field just outside the box. Goalkeeper Nicoline Jorgensen was right on it, but mistimed her jump and the ball brushed right past her fingers for the Tigers’ first goal.
“When you get two hands on it you’re supposed to stop it but it happens sometimes,” head coach Mauricio Ingrassia said. “Even pros make bloopers.”
The Pacific Tigers (7-3-2, 1-0 Big West) had No. 19 USC beaten by two last Friday until the Women of Troy retaliated with three unanswered goals.
The goal, coming in the 19th minute, was Padilla’s team-leading eighth goal for the Tigers.
The rest of the match, the 49ers looked to answer back with a goal of their own with no luck.
In an effort to rile up some offense, the 49ers defense stood strong and didn’t allow a shot on goal, yet they wasted six corners in the second half and 10 throughout the match.
The 49ers were visibly out of sync on the offensive front, but that can be attributed to the absence of midfielder Karina Camacho, along with having numerous freshmen on this year’s team.
“We miss Karina out there; she was the glue that held everything together,” Ingrassia said. “We’re still searching to create a little more offensively … we didn’t have any clarity up front and we lacked the final pass.”
For Camacho, this was the sixth straight game she has missed since going down on Sept. 11 against Harvard with a knee injury. It is unknown how long she will be out.
In order to pick up the slack, the 49ers have looked to midfielders Lindsay Bullock and Shawna Gordon but they couldn’t connect with their combined three shots.
“We didn’t start out at our best but we were better near the end,” Gordon said. “We are a young team so we’re still trying to get used to each other.”
The 49ers’ next match comes at home against the visiting UC Davis Aggies Sunday. The Aggies (5-2-1) should provide a competitive matchup for the reeling ‘Niners.
With nine games to play, Long Beach has a long ways to go if they look to repeat its success from 2008.
“We have [nine] games to play and we have to win them all,” Gordon said.