Soccer, Sports, Women's Sports

LBSU women’s soccer ready to make push for a Big West Conference Tournament spot

It’s make-or-break time for the defending Big West Conference champions. The Long Beach State women’s soccer team will need positive results from its next two games to have any chance of qualifying for this season’s tournament.

LBSU (8-6-2, 2-3-1 Big West) currently find itself in a three-way tie for sixth place in the Big West Conference standings with seven points, sitting three points behind Cal State Fullerton who holds the final Tournament spot in fourth place.

First up for is an away game at 7 p.m. on Thursday against first-place Cal State Northridge (8-4-6, 4-1-2 Big West) with 14 points in the standings.

The Matadors are on a five-game unbeaten streak and have not lost a match since their Big West Opener in a 3-0 loss to Cal State Fullerton on Oct. 1.

Long Beach head coach Mauricio Ingrassia said the team needs to take it one game at a time while playing with the same tenacity it showed in its 3-0 victory against UC Riverside Sunday to make a push for a tournament spot.

“The team learned a lot on Sunday night [against UC Riverside] about themselves, so we’re just focused on playing a decisive game against Northridge,” Ingrassia said.

The 49ers and Matadors have already met once this season in a non-conference match on Aug. 18th at George Allen Field. Both teams split a point in a 1-1 double-overtime draw.

The last test of the season for the 49ers will be against third place UC Davis at 2 p.m. on Sunday at George Allen Field.

All final Big West Conference games will be played at 2 p.m. on Sunday in order to eliminate any competitive edge a team with an earlier match might have.

The 49ers and Aggies have yet to meet this season, but did play each other last season in a match that resulted in a 2-1 victory for Ingrassia’s squad.

This time around, the 49ers will have their hands full against a strong UC Davis side that has only lost once in its last six games.

Although Long Beach has been plagued by injuries, the team is confident heading into the final stretch of the season.

“I honestly think we’re really strong right now,”said  freshman forward Rola Badawiya. “If we just keep playing how we played against UCR, we’ll for sure get in tournament.”

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