After coming off a 2010 season that saw the Long Beach State women’s soccer team win its first Big West Conference Tournament championship and tie a school record for wins (14), head coach Mauricio Ingrassia will look to build upon that this year.
“I think our expectations will have to go hand-in-hand with the recent history of our program,” Ingrassia said. “We have to have the expectation that we want to compete for a Big West championship, get to the NCAA Tournament and proceed to the knockout stages.”
But for Ingrassia, who began conducting training camp for the team Wednesday, the road to another conference title and third NCAA Tournament appearance in four years won’t be an easy one.
That’s because the 49ers (14-6-2) have lost six of its 11 starters who finished their careers as seniors last season, including two-time Big West Midfielder of the Year Lindsay Bullock, who ranked second on the team with eight goals last year.
“Some of the players who left like Lindsay, we won’t be able to replace,” Ingrassia said. “But we’ll have to reinvent how we do things in order to continue to be successful.”
Despite losing Bullock, who now serves as an undergraduate assistant coach to the team, The Beach have a few other midfielders to take her place, including sophomore Kassidy House, freshman Taylor Nelson and sophomore Kelsey Wilson who transferred from Loyola Marymount University.
Another spot LBSU will need to occupy is at goalkeeper, which was filled by last year’s Big West Tournament most valuable player Emily Kingsborough, who was eligible for one more season, but elected to not join the team after graduating in May.
However, the 49ers have four goalkeepers vying for the position, namely senior Kaitlyn Gustaves, who graduated from Wilson High School in Long Beach and attended Oklahoma State before transferring to LBSU in 2009.
In four appearances last season, Gustaves surrendered four goals and posted 10 saves.
Though Gustaves is the frontrunner to be the starting goalkeeper this season, Ingrassia said there are no guarantees.
“Kaitlyn was part of the reason why Emily was so good [last year],” Ingrassia said. “And now it should fall on Kaitlyn, but everybody has got to earn it.
Among those competing for the spot along with Gustaves will be freshmen Marrina Meyers, Kaci McCain and Amanda Robles.
Among the 49ers’ 16 returners, junior forward Nadia Link and senior midfielder Shawna Gordon are expected to spark The Beach’s frontline.
In 22 games last season, Link tallied a team-leading eight goals (tied for third in the Big West) and 17 points (tied for fourth in the Big West).
A first-team Big West selection, Link is among the four team captains that were named by Ingrassia along with Gordon, senior forward Nicole Sweetman and senior defender Alex Balcer.
“We didn’t do as well as we wanted to [last season], so now we kind of want to break the mold a little further than we did,” Link said. “Our expectations are a little bit higher and we’re expecting our newcomers to come up to speed quickly, which I definitely think they’re capable of.”
Some of the newcomers Ingrassia said he expects to make an immediate impact on the team are transfers Sierra Mack (forward from UCLA), Kelsey Wilson, and Jordan Nelson (defender from LMU).
“I think Jordan played the most minutes at LMU last season,” Ingrassia said. “She was an All-West Coast Conference [selection], Sierra is an athletic specimen and Kelsey was an All-West Region [selection] at LMU, so those are all players with experience and talent who will all fit in well.”
Meanwhile, Gordon’s, who is coming off a season when she recorded four goals and a team-leading seven assists, said this year’s roster will look to use its speed and footwork to its advantage as opposed the size and strength that members of last season’s roster were known for.
“I feel like [during spring play], we made a new identity for ourselves,” Gordon said. “Maybe it’s not the same tactical things we used to do when we had bigger players who were good in the air, but now we like to keep the ball on the ground.”
The 49ers will begin the 2011 season on Aug. 19, when they travel to USC for a 3 p.m. game before hosting Sacramento State in their home opener on Aug. 21 at 1 p.m.
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