No. 24 Long Beach State cruised to a 2-0 victory over Southern Utah in front of 620 at George Allen Field Friday evening in the 49ers home opener.
The 49ers continued their hot start by posting their third consecutive shutout to begin the year. Goalkeeper Liz Ramos had five saves and has not allowed a goal this season.
In the tenth minute, forward Sahar Haghdan baited Southern Utah’s goalkeeper Holly Davis, who dove for the ball. Haghdan maintained control and found Silos 10 feet in front of an open net, and Silos made no mistake booting the ball into the goal.
LBSU kept the pressure on with several shots on goal. In the 19th minute, Silos passed to Haley Bolt, whose header sailed just right of the goal. On the next possession, Haghdan nearly scored on a pass by Bolt.
The Mustangs almost tied the score in the 27th minute, but goalkeeper Ramos made a jumping save on a one-on-one situation to keep the score 1-0.
In the 35th minute, the 49ers doubled their lead when Bolt kicked the ball over the leaping hands of Davis and into the top of the net.
With 35 seconds to go in the first half, a SUU player collided with Ramos who went down for several seconds and was visibly shaken. A nervous crowd at George Allen Field applauded as Ramos returned to her feet.
The Thunderbirds mounted an aggressive attack to start the second half. In the 48th minute, they shot two consecutive shots on goal, but Ramos blocked both of them.
The second half featured strong defense by LBSU as SUU managed just three shots. Ramos preserved the shutout with a diving stop in the 85th minute.
Head Coach Mauricio Ingrassia has a proven track record and expectations are high in his third season at Long Beach State.
“We definitely have higher expectations. One of our goals is making NCAAs this year and possibly hosting our conference tournament. Our goals are definitely different this year,” Silos said.
LBSU out-shot SUU 13-6. The 49ers improve to 3-0 on the season while the Thunderbirds drop to 0-3.
The 3-0 start is the best in school history, and the 49ers will try and make it four straight when they visit No. 5 UCLA Sunday.