IRVINE — A few bad bounces, some spotty defense and goal-tending, and a lack of finishing unraveled into another shutout loss for the 49ers women’s soccer team.
The 49ers fell, 3-0, at the hands of host UC Irvine Thursday night at Anteater Stadium. It was the seventh time in its past 10 games that The Beach (5-10-3, 1-5-1 Big West Conference) was held without a goal.
The game turned in UCI’s favor in the 21st minute when an attempted cross from the left flank by Irvine’s Alyssa Humphrey squirted through The Beach’s defense and bounced into the back of the net. Goalkeeper Nicoline Jorgensen appeared screened on the in-swinging kick and didn’t react quick enough to stop the inadvertent shot.
Up to that pivotal point in the game, LBSU was maintaining ball control. The ‘Niners were infused with a spark when leading goal-scorer Shawna Gordon entered about 15 minutes into the game.
Gordon made an immediate impact, connecting on several clever passes and creating scoring chances. Midfielder and team-leader Lindsay Bullock was a force in the middle, shedding defenders like bathing suits at a nude beach.
After that opening surge in which the 49ers maintained a fluid possession and dominated the ball, LBSU found itself climbing uphill to get back into the match.
The fluke goal by UCI (11-6-2, 1-5-1 Big West) looked like it stunned LBSU as it was against the game’s flow and put the 49ers on its heels for the remainder of the first half.
If the first goal can be blamed on accidental luck, then the second goal the Beach surrendered was just a lack of focus.
In the 59th minute, UCI’s Kate Berrini intercepted a poor clearance from just inside The Beach’s defensive half and unleashed a strike from nearly 35 yards out. The shot, while swift, could have been blocked away, but it went through the keeper’s hands into the net.
LBSU head coach Mauricio Ingrassia saw it similarly.
“A shot that goes in down the middle of the goal, if you can’t make plays like that you can’t win,” Ingrassia said.
UCI’s Judy Christopher closed the book on the game’s scoring in the 77th minute on a penalty kick. The kick was awarded after a strong tackle from behind by Beach defender Bo Rael on a breakaway chance for the Anteaters.
Between the 18-yard-boxes, The Beach’s play was very consistent and strong. The build-up was there and the team manufactured chances. But as the case has been lately, finishing was a problem for the 49ers.
LBSU’s best scoring chances came in the last 10 minutes. Whitney Velez had an opportunity to finish as did Karina Camacho, who led all 49ers with three attempts, but the shots were gobbled up by UCI goalkeeper Danielle de Seriere.
Ingrassia said he is looking to build on LBSU’s last game of the season at Cal State Northridge on Sunday at 1 p.m.
“We definitely want to win on Sunday and go off on a positive note, because we are good enough to do that,” he said. “We’ve been inconsistent in key positions, and it’s really hurt us, but the morale of the team is as high as it could be in a 3-0 game.”