Junior midfielder Eileen Maes shed heavy tears as a dejected Long Beach State women’s soccer team walked off the field following its second double-overtime defeat of the year.
LBSU (11-6, 4-3 Big West Conference) endured a 1-0 loss to UC Irvine (9-8-1, 5-1-1 Big West) at George Allen Field on Saturday. The agonizing defeat came at home before a record crowd of 1,304 and may jeopardize the 49ers’ postseason hopes, as it drops them to fifth in the conference standings.
The two teams played a grinding game without a goal for 119 minutes, but the Anteaters received a penalty kick with only 55 seconds remaining when senior Mar Rodriguez’s desperation shot hit defender Camille Berg’s hand inside the penalty area.
Senior forward Rachel Wood converted the penalty, giving the Anteaters a dramatic last-minute win in the first of the 2012-13 Black & Blue rivalry series between LBSU and UCI.
“It’s painful,” LBSU head coach Mauricio Ingrassia said after the match. “I thought we played well enough to deserve better especially after halftime.”
UCI dominated the first half with junior forward Natalia Ledezma spearheading its attack. Only seven minutes into the match, Ledezma broke free down the right wing and drilled a sharp cross toward sophomore forward Laura McGrail, who hit a volley over the crossbar.
The Beach, however, responded well from the start of the second half. Senior forward Nadia Link was once again the 49ers’ catalyst, as her nifty back-heel attempt following a goalmouth scramble went just inches wide of the left post only three minutes in.
Link continued to trouble the Anteater’s backline with her slaloming runs. With four minutes left in regulation, the reigning Big West Offensive Player of the Year collected the ball on the right wing and cut inside to launch a powerful left-footed shot but missed wide to the right.
Two minutes later, freshman midfielder Hannah Sanders released Link with a through-ball in transition toward goal. Link skipped past two UCI defenders in the penalty area and fired a shot with her left foot but sent the ball just right of the post once again.
Both teams reverted back to playing more cautiously in overtime, knowing that conceding a goal would end the match immediately.
The match seemed destined to end as a scoreless tie when Berg’s handball gave UCI a chance to go ahead in the final minute. Wood took the penalty kick and scored with ease, as she poked the ball past goalkeeper Marrina Meyers into the bottom-right corner of the net.
The ‘Niners now only have two matches left in their regular season schedule. A top-four finish in the conference standings is required to secure a berth in the Big West tournament at the end of the season.
The ‘Niners will most likely have to win both of the next two matches and also hope that UCI, Cal State Fullerton and Cal State Northridge drop points in their remaining contests.
“We need a little help now,” Ingrassia said. “But as long as we take care of the last two games, we’re confident [that we can make the postseason].”
With its ticket to the Big West tournament still up in the air, LBSU will head into a two-game home swing to close out the regular season. The ‘Niners will face Hawaii on Friday at 7 p.m. and CSUN on Sunday at 2 p.m.