The Beach earned their second 1-1 draw in a row Thursday night in a Big West conference matchup against the UCI Anteaters at George Allen Field.
It took some time for The Beach to earn their goal, however Head Coach Mauricio Ingrassia wasn’t thrilled with his team’s first-half performance.
“Some choice of words, but definitely to show up in the second half so that the crowd can have something to cheer about, and that they would get energy off them,” Ingrassia said.
The stands were full 30 minutes before kickoff, as the first 500 fans in attendance received a pair of inflatable thundersticks, helping the crowd bring the energy that was needed to help The Beach claw back and score the tying goal.
“I think it happened there at the end and it was good, it felt like old times at George Allen,” he said.
Long Beach State’s goal was scored by sophomore midfielder Julia Moore in the 82 minute after crowding the six-yard box and waiting at the back post for the assist from freshman defender Brooklyn Antonucci and junior midfielder Maddy Perez.
“It’s awesome,” Moore said emphatically, “The ball from Brooklyn was really, really perfect, so to score against them felt good.
The Beach lost 3-0 to the Anteaters in the 2022 Big West Championship last November, and they’ve had Thursday’s matchup marked on their calendars ever since.
Both teams played fast and physically, which is reflective of the combined 18 fouls and five yellow cards recorded in this matchup. The Beach showed their resilience in the second half and earned the draw.
“We knew we had it in us, it was just a matter of performing and executing,” Moore said of the team’s mentality following halftime. “When we were able to really play our game and pass it around them, find the other side to switch the point of attack, it created a lot of opportunities for us.”
Long Beach State took advantage of the open space down the wings in the latter half of the game, which eventually led to their deserving equalizer.
UCI’s goal was scored by redshirt junior Alyssa Moore as she sprinted past the Long Beach State defense on a counterattack and cut inside to her right before slotting in a beautiful finish at the near post.
The Beach did a much better job of keeping possession and defending the UCI counterattacks in the second half and held the Anteaters scoreless.
The crowd certainly played its part in supplying the energy on Thursday night. Although a draw isn’t the win that everyone wanted, it’s still a deserving result that pays off to teams that play hard until the final whistle.
Going forward, The Beach needs to find more ways to ignite their offense and score more goals as they have only scored three in their last four games with only one victory.
Their next game will be a non-conference matchup against Northern Colorado at George Allen Field on Sunday at 1 p.m.