It’s better late than never, and Long Beach State women’s soccer picked up its first win of the season with an emphatic 4-0 victory over visiting Fresno State on Thursday night at George Allen Field.
“I thought it was a really good night for our team,” LBSU coach Mauricio Ingrassia said. “We talked about igniting our season and we hope this will ignite our season.”
The Beach (1-2-2) scored three times in the first half including a pair of goals from Summer Laskey in the 38th and 44th minutes. It’s her first collegiate multi-goal performance.
“Every game is a new game and we’re going to win that game and it doesn’t matter what else is happening,” Laskey said. “That’s our goal no matter what. Staying together and working hard together until the end is what got the momentum going.”
The performance is even more impressive considering the Beach is coming off a disappointing week that included a draw with San Diego State and lopsided loss to Washington. The four-goal performance is the highest scoring game for the Beach since a 6-0 win over St. John’s in 2018.
“I liked the collective response,” Ingrassia said. “The team really felt that negative result last week and it was a hard week. But they stayed in the moment and they came out here on the front foot and stayed through it.”
Striker Lena Silano got LBSU on the board in the 17th minute when she drew a foul inside the 18-yard box and converted the resulting penalty kick. It’s her third goal of the season, and her seventh career game-winner which ranks fifth most in program history.
In the 38th minute, Sara Ybarra crossed it to Alyssa Reyes who made the extra pass to Laskey. She lofted it over the goalkeeper for her first goal of the night. The sophomore scored a similar goal six minutes later off an assist from Alia Sinoff. Laskey has now scored three times coming off the bench.
“Being able to see the game as it settles down and then going in and setting the tone that way is definitely helpful,” Laskey said.
“Her numbers have been great analytics wise,” Ingrassia said of Laskey. “She’s got starters numbers but she’s just a game changer so she’s coming off the bench for us. Maybe that will change, but for now that seems to be working for her.”
Freshman Cherrie Cox scored her first collegiate goal in the 85th minute while LBSU was able to get 20 players in the game.
Defensively, it was by far the best performance of the year for LBSU while holding Fresno State for just four shots on target. Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Morgan Houston-Shepherd delivered the clean sheet— the third of her career.
“I told the team to stop worrying and work and focus on our process,” Ingrassia added. “This is just another step in the maturation of our team.”
LBSU hosts the University of San Diego on Sunday at 7 p.m.
