Playing from behind, Long Beach State women’s soccer overcomes No. 22 Harvard, winning 3-2 following a last-minute goal by redshirt senior forward Elysia Laramie Friday night at George H. Allen Field.
After starting out slow and seeing The Harvard Crimson control the entirety of the first half and outshoot LBSU 6-3, it was unsurprising to see The Beach trail 1-0 just two minutes into the second half.
The opening goal came out of the hands of Long Beach State goalie Zora Standifer before falling at the feet of a Harvard attacker who put the ball into the net. It was an otherwise good performance from the junior shot-stopper who turned away five of the seven shots on goal.
“We changed shapes just a little bit just to deal with how they were throwing numbers forward, head coach Mauricio Ingrassia said.
“I thought our players were very courageous and got out a result. We scored some very timely goals and I’m just really proud of the group right now.”
A quick response was something that seemed off the cards, but sophomore midfielder Julia Moore would find herself well positioned in the box to finish off a cross that landed at her feet exactly four minutes after Harvard’s opening goal.
From there it would be just five minutes before The Beach would take the lead thanks to a wonderful outside-of-the-box finish from junior midfielder Makayla Demelo that dipped over the goalie’s outstretched hands.
It was the first goal scored by Demelo at Long Beach State since transferring from Loyola Marymount University.
“Unbelievable player. She’s been plugging up holes wherever we need her. For her to get rewarded tonight, it’s fantastic,” Ingrassia said about her performance.
Harvard would equalize the score at 2-2 with a quality finish of its own in the 78th minute.
Long Beach State applied the pressure however and drew three corners after the Harvard equalizer, which on the third time of asking, Laramie was there to seal the game with her sixth goal of the season.
“The team wasn’t gonna be denied tonight,” Ingrassia said, “Alumni were here from a long time ago and they really fired up the team.”
After stringing together back-to-back home victories, The Beach will now head on the road to play Fresno State Sep. 3 at 12 p.m. before a big game against UCLA on Sep. 7.