The Long Beach State women’s soccer team played two more matches last weekend and it recorded two more shutouts.
Utah State and the University of San Francisco are the newest victims of the stifling 49ers defense, which has now yielded just one goal in their first six matches of the season.
No. 24 LBSU (5-1-0) defeated USU 2-0 Friday and then shutdown tournament host USF 1-0 Sunday afternoon, to finish with a perfect record in the City by the Bay Classic.
“It was a really good weekend,” said LBSU head coach Mauricio Ingrassia. “We grinded out two games, played well, and the team is playing with the right mentality.”
In the opening game of the tournament, the 49ers dominated USU, out-shooting the Aggies 17-4.
Against USU, freshman midfielder Yeraldy Hurtado scored her first goal of her young career in the 40th minute. Sara Baca fed Hurtado a pass and Hurtado finished the play from 10 yards out to score the matches’ opening goal.
Hayley Bolt provided the insurance goal in the 67th minute, heading a Kim Silos free kick into the net.
The goal was Bolt’s team-leading third of the year and she also leads the squad in shots with 24.
Although she wasn’t tested often, Liz Ramos had three saves in the match for the shutout.
Sunday against USF was a much more difficult match for the 49ers. USF had a strong crowd at the match, with 735 fans, and the Dons play on artificial turf, something the 49ers aren’t used to playing on.
The game stayed scoreless for 83 minutes, until the 49ers took advantage of their seventh corner kick opportunity.
Silos sent a ball into the box and freshman Sarah Strohl made no mistake from left side of goal, sending the ball into the upper corner.
For Strohl, who had her first career start a week ago against UCLA, has been impressive since she was inserted into the starting lineup.
“We took [Strohl] on as a project-type player,” Ingrassia said. “A lot of the time freshmen are like a deer in the headlights, but she has a great mentality and isn’t scared of anyone.”
With two minutes remaining, Ramos was forced to come up with a huge save, punching away a Chelsea Hunt 20-yard shot to ensure the 49ers victory.
“The game against San Francisco was a tough one,” Ingrassia said. “They played hard and had a lot of fans at the game, but we were rewarded for our hard work with the goal at the end of the game.”
The second shutout for Ramos was her fourth of the season and the 14.5 of her career. Ramos stat line is incredible; she holds a microscopic 0.17 goals against average and .957 save percentage.
“Not just the defenders, but the whole team is playing great defense,” Ingrassia said. “Our defense takes a of pride in not giving up goal and they’re doing a great job right now.”