LOS ANGELES — Long Beach State women’s soccer head coach Mauricio Ingrassia has reminded his team all season, “Soccer is a crazy game where anything is possible.”
The No. 21-ranked ‘Niners took note of that Sunday as they out-dueled the University of San Diego on a rain-soaked field to become the first Big West Conference school in history to advance to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.
Freshman reserve Ashley Roese, who hadn’t played in LBSU’s last five matches, delivered the game-winning goal as the ‘Niners escaped with a 1-0 victory over the Toreros under heavy showers at UCLA’s Drake Stadium.
“Oh, my gosh! Is this really happening?” Roese said of her thoughts after scoring her first career goal. “I’m so thankful for this opportunity and everything has just been amazing.”
Roese, who has only seen playing time in nine of LBSU’s 24 matches, said Ingrassia told her before the game to be prepared because the rainy conditions favor her physical style of play.
“We figured this would be a game for [Roese],” Ingrassia said. “It’s the type of game that’s fit for a scrappy player that likes to mix it up and Ashley [Roese] has a nose for the goal. I mean, she stayed composed and buried it.”
Roese nailed the game-winner at the 56th minute when she split past two defenders before collecting a loose ball in the box and scoring from close range in a one-on-one situation with lunging USD goalkeeper Courtney Parsons.
“I saw the ball pop loose and I just tried to put it on frame somehow,” Roese said. “I haven’t played as many minutes [this season] as I had hoped for, but as a freshman, you have to earn your time. It’s something I’ve been working on all season.”
The Toreros fought back, though, and came close to tying up the match in the 84th minute when defender Natalie Garcia sent a rocket that clanked off the crossbar from 20 yards out.
From there, the 49ers were able to hold on for the win as a parade of LBSU fans stormed the field to celebrate with the team after the final horn sounded.
The win extended the 49ers’ winning-streak to a program-high eight matches. It also marked the second consecutive time the ‘Niners (18-5-1) have defeated the Toreros (12-8-2) this season.
“I want to give credit to San Diego and [head coach] Ada Greenwood,” Ingrassia said. “They’ve had a fantastic season. He is a great friend of mine and we both knew it was going to be a war just like the first time we played them. The conditions were not ideal for either team, but that’s soccer.”
LBSU goalkeeper Kaitlyn Gustaves registered two saves en route to her fifth consecutive shutout and 12th of the year. Gustaves and the 49ers back line, which have blanked their opponents in seven of the last eight games, have not allowed a goal in 477 minutes.
The match was evenly played as both teams registered two shots on goal, while USD held a slight 9-8 advantage in attempts.
However, that didn’t stop both teams from having their share of troubles with moving the ball on a surface where puddles of water were visible on parts of the field.
“We couldn’t even dribble,” LBSU defender Nicole Hubbard said. “We could barely pass. Everything had to basically be in the air. There was puddles everywhere. They weren’t the greatest conditions, but hey, we’ll take it.”
Ingrassia also noted the many difficulties he and his coaching staff faced when trying to determine which of their players were most capable of playing on the slippery surface.
“We changed our lineups two or three times during the game,” Ingrassia said. “We were thinking, ‘Can we play up the side? Is there standing water?’ One side seemed to be dryer than the other. I just kept changing my mind, but at the end of the day, we were playing in the Sweet 16. How bad could this be? This was fantastic.”
The Beach continues to shatter single-season program records for victories (18), goals (49), assists (52) and points (150).
Long Beach is also one of just three schools that have yet to allow a goal in the NCAA Tournament. The other two programs are top-ranked Stanford and No. 8 Virginia.
LBSU will move on to face No. 1-seeded Duke University, which is ranked No. 3 in the country, in the quarterfinals of the 64-team tournament at Koskinen Stadium in Durham, N.C. on Friday at 4 p.m. (PT).
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