The562’s coverage of Long Beach State athletics is sponsored by Marilyn Bohl.
If only the final box score decided the winner, then it wouldn’t be soccer.
Long Beach State women’s soccer dominated visiting Cal State Northridge statistically on Thursday night at George Allen Field, but an early Northridge goal was the only thing that mattered in a 1-0 win over the Beach.
CSUN forward Yoshi Rubalcava pounced on an LBSU miscue and scored in the sixth minute. LBSU proceeded to outshoot the visitors 13-6 without another shot on goal from the Matadors.
“You can’t pass the ball to the other team and expect to win,” LBSU coach Mauricio Ingrassia said. “We passed the ball carelessly the first ten minutes and one was in the back of the net. Goals change games. We can’t do that and unfortunately we learned a tough lesson but we’ll turn it around and bounce back.”
This is the first CSUN win over LBSU since 2019, and only the second Matador win in their last 13 matches against the Beach.
Seven different LBSU players had shots on Thursday night while Makayla Demelo and Summer Laskey each had a pair of shots on goal.
“As a team the effort is always there, it’s like the composure we have on the field,” LBSU captain Julia Moore said. “Sometimes it’s the ability to just take a deep breath and know the ability we have to do what we do. Sometimes we do too much, and often doing less is doing more.”
LBSU also had seven corner kicks and plenty of opportunities to equalize in the second half, but couldn’t find the final touch. Asked if she’s concerned with her team getting frustrated with results like this one, Moore said, “I feel like with a normal team there might be but this is a different group.”
“We’re pretty special,” Moore continued. “We’ve faced adversity this season and the fact that we don’t turn on each other is what gets us through. These girls are family and everyone trusts each other and loves each other. I think we ride this roller coaster together, and now we just turn the page for the next game.”
LBSU (4-5-1, 1-1-0) visits UC San Diego on Sunday.
