If the Long Beach State women’s soccer team hopes to get its stride back at home this weekend after suffering a pair of losses on the road, then it will need to do so without starting senior defender Alex Balcer.
Balcer, who picked up a red card in the 69th minute of the 49ers’ 2-1 loss to No. 12-ranked Marquette on Sunday, will have to sit out for Friday’s match at 5 p.m. against Princeton at George Allen Field due to NCAA rules.
Balcer has one goal to go with an assist in four starts with the ‘Niners (2-2-0) this season.
Head coach Mauricio Ingrassia isn’t worried, though, and sees her suspension as an opportunity to get other players on the field.
“It’s good for new players to get experience,” said Ingrassia, who will start junior center back Shannon Bullock in place of Balcer. “[Bullock] has been training [as a defender] for a year and doing a great job, so we’re confident in her.”
Bullock, who is the sister of former LBSU star midfielder Lindsay Bullock, has played in two of the ‘Niners’ four games this season and is expected to make an impact after beginning her career with the team as a forward.
Sophomore midfielder Kassidy Hause is also expected to make her return to field against the Tigers after being sidelined since the start of the season with a hip flexor injury.
“[Hause] trained at full strength today, so we’ll see,” Ingrassia said assuredly. “I think in terms of possession, she can make a nice difference for us in getting the whole field involved, but we got to measure where she is in terms of fitness.”
Princeton (0-0-0), which began its fall camp on Aug. 19, will be playing its season opener when it faces The Beach on Friday. The Tigers finished the 2010 season with a 9-6-1 overall record and advanced to the Ivy League championship game.
Princeton will also be returning its top two point scorers Jen Hoy (six goals, seven assists) and Caitlin Blosser (seven goals), along with goalkeeper Kristin Watson, who compiled 62 saves and a 1.09 goals against average.
“We should have an edge [against Princeton],” Ingrassia said. “But this is soccer, and anything can happen. … I mean, I know we are a much better team than we were four games ago, that’s for sure, but they do have an experienced group coming back.”
LBSU, which fell out of Soccer America’s Top 25 rankings poll after falling to No. 20 Milwaukee and Marquette last week, will also be hosting Hawaii this weekend. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Hawaii (0-3-0), which is still searching for its first win of the season, will face UC Irvine on the road Friday before making its way to Long Beach.
“We need to come out and apply what we learned last weekend,” Ingrassia said. “We really improved, and did a lot of good things that didn’t show up on the scoreboard. … We just got to close things out.”
Last weekend, the Rainbow Wahine fell to North Dakota State, 3-2, and California, 3-0, at the OHANA Hotels and Resorts No Ka Oi tournament.
Brittani Lum is tops on the squad in goals (2), points (4) and shot attempts (5), while Rachel Domingo has assisted on two of Hawaii’s three goals. Kanani Taaca has started every game in between the posts, registering 10 saves.
“They’re going to have a lot of energy,” Ingrassia said. “It’s their first road trip and the coach is doing some good things with the program, so we expect a tough match, obviously because they’re going to be in our league next year and I’m sure they’re looking to make a statement against two Big West teams this weekend.”
Hawaii, which is leaving the Western Athletic Conference in the 2012-13 season, was approved to join the Big West by the board of directors in Dec. 2010 in addition to accepting a football-only membership from the Mountain West Conference.
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