For the Long Beach State women’s soccer team, Thursday’s match against Cal State Fullerton at George Allen Field was a fitting display of the squad’s hard luck since entering Big West Conference play.
Despite out-shooting their rivals from Orange County, 17-12, the 49ers dropped a 2-0 decision to the Titans, stretching their losing streak to three matches. The loss also puts the three-time Big West regular-season champion ‘Niners (5-9-2, 1-4 Big West), currently seven points behind fourth place UC Irvine, dangerously close to missing out on one of four slots in the Big West tournament.
LBSU’s best chance to strike came in the 68th minute with the Titans up, 1-0, when midfielder Lindsay Bullock drew a penalty kick after being tackled on the left edge of the box. Karina Camacho lined up to take the PK, aiming the ball toward CSUF goalkeeper Jordan Santos, who booted the attempt over the crossbar.
“We came out strong early [in the second half] and it gave us a lot of energy,” Camacho said. “It would have been a game-changing play had it gone in.”
The Arizona transfer narrowly missed on another opportunity to equalize one minute later, heading a cross delivered from Shawna Gordon off the right-side post.
“We got unlucky,” she said. “The ball wasn’t falling our way. It’s frustrating.”
While the goal post proved unkind to the 49ers, it provided the Titans with a friendly bounce in the 71st minute when Christina Murillo whipped a 20-yard blast off the near post and past goalkeeper Emily Kingsborough to put CSUF up, 2-0.
The Beach held a 10-3 advantage in corner kicks, but it was not enough to keep the team from getting shut out for the sixth time in eight matches. LBSU head coach Mauricio Ingrassia described the match as “a microcosm of the last part of the season.”
“We let the momentum slip,” Ingrassia said. “Sometimes the ball just doesn’t want to go in.”
The 49ers sprung out at a torrid pace to begin the second half, penetrating the Titans’ end of the field with ease and out-shooting the visitors, 13-6, after the intermission, but CSUF’s Stacey Fox put the Titans on the board in the 57th minute after slotting Claudia Munoz’s corner kick into the net.
LBSU has out-shot its Big West foes, 73-51, through five conference matches, but has been outscored 8-4 in those tilts.
Ingrassia did not speculate much on his team’s slim tournament hopes, but looked at Sunday’s regular season home finale against UC Riverside at 2 p.m. as another chance at developing his inexperienced unit.
“This team is so young,” he said. “We have to take our lumps, put our heads down and work harder.”
Game notes
LBSU forward Jenny Soza did not play in Thursday’s match after injuring her left ankle in a 1-0 defeat at Cal Poly … Shawna Gordon and Nicole Hubbard entered the match off the bench, after starting in the 49ers’ previous 15 matches. Gordon played only 54 minutes after sustaining an ankle injury in LBSU’s 3-2 overtime loss at UC Santa Barbara, while Hubbard was battling an illness.