IRVINE — For the second consecutive match, the No. 22-ranked Long Beach State women’s soccer team failed to put the ball into the back of the net.
In a rematch of last season’s Big West Conference Tournament championship, LBSU dropped to fourth place in the conference standings as it fell to rival UC Irvine, 2-0, Sunday night at Anteater Stadium.
It marked the first time this season that the ‘Niners (10-5-1, 3-2 Big West, nine points) have been shut out in back-to-back games.
Meanwhile, the Anteaters (11-3-2, 4-1-1 Big West) took sole possession of first place (13 points) over Cal State Northridge (5-7-2, 3-1-1 Big West, 10 points) and UC Davis (9-4-1, 3-1-1 Big West, 10 points) with the victory.
“It’s a tough loss,” LBSU head coach Mauricio Ingrassia said. “We need to fix what is going on with our team right now in terms of taking care of the ball better.”
Senior forward Lexi Kopf opened up the scoring for Irvine in the 36th minute with her team-leading eighth goal of the season.
The ‘Niners best shot at an equalizer in the first half came on a breakaway in the 44th minute, however, the opportunity was squandered by UCI, on a save by freshman goalkeeper Jennifer Randazzo who produced her fifth shutout of the season.
In the second period, LBSU came close to tying it up at the 57:48 mark when a loose ball made its way to the front of an open net, but senior defender Nicole Hubbard was covered by several UCI defenders and the Anteaters were able to clear the ball out.
Irvine’s sophomore forward Natalia Ledezma tacked on an insurance goal in the 71st minute, her eighth of the season, which matched Kopf for team-high honors.
Late in the second half, Long Beach attempted to knot up the match again on another attack from Hubbard, but her header sailed right of the net in the 76th minute.
LBSU continued to put the pressure on with three shots over the final five minutes, but it wasn’t enough as the Anteaters held on.
The Beach is now 1-7-1 at Anteater Stadium all-time, with its only win coming in last year’s Big West championship match. The overall series record for The Beach against Irvine is now 5-10-3.
“We were fine because we had the ball for about 30 minutes,” Ingrassia said. “Then we lost [the ball] the last 10 to 15 [minutes], and that is when there was a flurry of getting it behind us. We did not play smart.”
Hubbard and junior forward Nadia Link paced the 49ers with two shots apiece.
Randazzo had two saves on eight Long Beach shots in the shutout.
LBSU goalkeeper Kaitlyn Gustaves surrendered the two UCI goals while accumulating three saves on a whopping 18 shots from UCI.
The Beach will return to action Friday at George Allen Field to host UC Riverside (7-7-1, 2-2 Big West) at 3 p.m.
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