Last season, Cal women’s soccer cruised past Long Beach State to a easy 6-0 victory at Edwards Stadium.
Although this Friday’s match in Long Beach, Calif., was a far cry from last year’s match, the Bears (6-1) managed a pair of goals against the 49ers. The win marked Cal’s sixth straight victory after a season-opening loss.
While holding Long Beach State to a clean sheet, the Bears faced a formidable challenge against a disciplined 49ers defense and a hostile crowd.
“Long Beach State took us out of our playing rhythm, but our girls have done a nice job overcoming those obstacles,” coach Neil McGuire said.“The crowd at Long Beach was very loud, making it difficult for us to communicate.”
After winning the Big West conference for the first time last year, Long Beach State (4-3) enjoyed a fast start to this season, winning four out of its first six matches. Spearheaded by forward Nadia Link who is enjoying a breakout season with six goals this year, the 49ers came into the match primed for revenge against Cal at George Allen Field, where coach Mauricio Ingrassia’s squad had yet to drop a match this season.
But Long Beach State’s hopes were quickly dashed in the first three minutes of the match. Forward Lauren Battung was fouled in the penalty box as she tried to penetrate through the left side of the box. She capitalized on the penalty by burying the shot in the net to score her fifth goal of the season.
Despite the 1-0 deficit early in the match, the 49ers did not falter in the rest of the first half. Both teams played to a stalemate in the opening frame, equaling each other in both shots and fouls.
As a squad that has characteristically shined brighter in the second half, the Bears were hoping for another explosion of goals to widen the margin.
The explosion came more as a whimper as Cal scored only one goal in the second half from forward Katie Benz at the 52nd minute. But that match just proved to be the game clincher.
Benz, who led the Pac-12 with eight goals coming into the match, added another one to the tally when she eluded a crowd of players in the penalty box and sent a six-yard shot past 49ers goalkeeper Kaitlyn Gustaves.
Now down by two goals, Long Beach State went on the attack to avoid a home shut-out. In the 80th minute, the 49ers probably had the best chance of the afternoon when midfielder Kelsey Wilson took a low shot that ricocheted off the right post.
Coming off an impressive 19 goals in the last four matches, the Bears did not have the same offensive outbreak in this match.
For the first time this season, Cal was out shot by Long Beach State, 9-7. This is also the first time this season that the Bears failed to shoot more than 10 times in a match.
“We create lots of opportunities to get the shots off,” McGuire said. “We held onto the ball, but their defense was really good and we were more cautious than usual. We had a high turnover rate in the last third of the match, giving up the ball in the last pass before the shot opportunity.”
Comment Policy
Comments should remain on topic, concerning the article or blog post to which they are connected. Brevity is encouraged. Posting under a pseudonym is discouraged, but permitted. The Daily Cal encourages readers to voice their opinions respectfully in regard to the readers, writers and contributors of The Daily Californian. Comments are not pre-moderated, but may be removed if deemed to be in violation of this policy. Click here to read the full comment policy.