The Long Beach State women’s soccer team is headed to Nor Cal this weekend to compete in the City by the Bay Classic, hosted by the University of San Francisco.
The 49ers (3-1) will meet Utah State (2-2) Friday, and then kick-off against the tournament host, USF (1-3), Sunday.
Last week, the 49ers split their two matches, beating Southern Utah 2-0 Friday in their season opener, and then losing to No. 3 UCLA 1-0 in Westwood Sunday.
Even with the loss, LBSU’s ranking didn’t slip in this week’s Soccerbuzz.com poll, as the 49ers are still ranked No. 24 in the country and No. 7 in the West region.
Hayley Bolt leads the team in goals with two, and Kim Silos along with Sarah Haghdan have both scored once this year.
The Long Beach defense has been suffocating opponents so far this year.
LBSU kept the ball out of its net for 352 minutes over four matches to start the season until UCLA finally broke through in the 83rd minute Sunday.
Goalie Liz Ramos has amassed an impressive stat line, with a 3-1 record, 0.27 GAA and a .941 save percentage.
With LBSU playing so well defensively, it comes into this weekend in good shape considering USU and USF are both having trouble putting the ball in the net.
The matchup against USU will be a reunion of sorts.
The Aggies were members of the Big West between 1996-2004 before switching to the Western Athletic Conference. In seven all-time matches between the two squads, LBSU holds a 5-2 advantage.
Last week Utah State lost both of its matches in the University of Utah Fall Classic, falling to Arizona 3-1 and Washington State 1-0.
Before the season, USU was picked to finish fifth in the eight-team conference by the WAC coaches.
The Aggies are led by senior forward Charity Weston. Weston is a two-time All-WAC first team selection, and, if she receives that honor again this year, she will be the first Aggie to ever be selected three times.
Weston has recorded one assist for the Aggies in their first four games this year, but last year had seven goals, including three game winners, and four assists.
As a team, USU has struggled scoring, and it won’t get easier against the tough LBSU defense.
In their other match, LBSU will meet USF, who also split their two matches last week.
The Dons lost to Stanford 3-0 last Friday but recorded their first win of the season Sunday with a 3-1 victory over San Jose State.
Sophomore Fiona O’Sullivan scored all three goals against SJSU, and LBSU will need to mark her closely.
Before O’Sullivan’s three goals Sunday, USF was shut out in its first three matches of the season.
Goalkeeper Kelly Pohle is playing well right now and recorded a season high nine saves against SJSU.
Chelsea Hunt led the Dons last year in goals, finding the net 10 times, and chipped in two assists.