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Coach Mauricio Ingrassia has been at Long Beach State for over two decades, and on Sunday night he said, “I’ve never had a season like this. It’s been crazy. We’ve been continuously reinventing ourselves.”
This injury-riddled campaign stuck to the script at George Allen Field as LBSU lost captain Julia Moore to injury in the opening ten minutes and then lost to visiting Cal State Fullerton 2-0 in Big West action.
The Beach (6-8-2, 3-4-1) is now seventh place in the conference standings with two games left against fourth-place UC Irvine (Oct. 27) and first-place Hawai’i (Oct. 31).
“It’s in our hands,” Ingrassia said of his team’s chances to make the conference tournament. “We’ve got six points (out there) and if we get them we have a chance.”
Most of LBSU’s top players have been sidelined at some point this season, and for the second time this year Moore had to exit a game due to injury. This time it happened early after a serious knee injury.
Fullerton (5-9-3, 3-3-2) and forward Makenna McGill got the first quality shots on goal of the game, but LBSU’s Liz Worden forced Titans goalkeeper Mia Ranson into a great save just before the half hour mark. Worden finished with a team-high five shots.
LBSU forward Kassandra Ceja, who has been limited with a knee injury, came off the bench to create some chances and give the home side some momentum. However, Fullerton took the lead in the 36th minute on a wonder strike by Jenae Perez from seven yards outside the 18-yard box.
Fullerton doubled its lead on a penalty kick converted by Kaylee Noble in the 47th minute.
The teams finished 10-10 in total shots and 14-14 in total fouls while the Titans held a 6-4 advantage in corner kicks.
Ingrassia praised the substitute work from Siena Navarra, Kylie Perez and Natalie Arnold while staying positive postgame.
“I’m proud of my team, they fought hard until the end,” he said. “We’ve got players who can step in. Obviously it’s a big loss but we have a whole week to prepare (for Irvine). But we have to not get injured.”
