8 Tuesday, September 3, 2013
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Rangel’s last-second goal leads LBSU to first victory
Goals by Mimi Akaogi and Eileen Maes get the 49ers a comeback win over Texas Tech. By Daniel Astle Assistant Sports Editor
It took two shutout losses before the Long Beach State women’s soccer team could both score its first goal and earn its first victory of the season. Freshman midfielder Mimi Rangel accomplished both of those feats for the
49ers (1-2-0) Sunday as she secured the 3-2 victory over No. 23 Texas Tech (31-0) with a dramatic tie-breaking goal three seconds before the end of regulation. The 49ers entered halftime still void of a goal on the season and trailing 1-0. But Rangel ended the scoreless streak 10 seconds into the second period with a game-tying goal on an assist by defender Marie McKenzie. The game-winning kick by Rangel was precluded by a game-tying goal by senior Eileen Maes in the 87th minute. Over two minutes later, as the regulation clock wound down to three seconds, senior Kristyn Benavidez passed the ball to Maes, who pushed it forward to Rangel to set up the game-winning
shot from 12 yards out. After opening the game strong and attacking TTU early, The Beach’s offense went idle. From there, LBSU struggled throughout the period, committing 11 fouls in the half while allowing a goal by midfielder Paige Strahan in the 34th minute. Sunday’s game was also notable for notching several firsts. While handing the Red Raiders their first loss of the season, LBSU sophomore Kaci McCain started her first career game at goalkeeper while Rangel’s two goals were the first of her collegiate career. The weekend road trip didn’t start out as nicely for the ‘Niners, as theyallowed four goals to Santa Clara on Thursday.
The 49ers failed to capitalize on numerous scoring opportunities, as they attempted 10 shots in the 4-0 loss at Buck Shaw Stadium. Thursday’s match was the second time the ‘Niners played and lost at Buck Shaw Stadium in three contested matches dating back to last year, when they fell to SCU 2-1 in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. As head coach Mauricio Ingrassia noted before Thursday, this year’s match with SCU (1-2-0) was not considered a true rematch due to the 49ers’ abundance of first-year players this season. LBSU’s defense unraveled almost immediately, with SCU senior forward Morgan Marlborough firing the game’s first goal just 43 seconds into the game.
49ers falter against FSU, Kentucky at Mizuno Invitational
Forty-eight seconds later, midfielder Julie Johnston slipped another shot past freshman keeper Ashton Mckeown for the Broncos’ second goal. Johnston followed with a second goal in the 13th minute to give SCU a 3-0 lead at halftime. The Beach’s defense held SCU scoreless in the second half up until nearly four minutes left in the game. With 10 total shots in the period, the Broncos used one to pad their lead on a goal by freshman midfielder Mariana Galvin. Thanks to Rangel’s game-winner on Sunday, the ‘Niners can return to George Allen Field with a win under their belts. LBSU will host its next game Friday at 7 p.m. against Cincinnati.
SCOREBOARD Women’s soccer Long Beach State Santa Clara
0 4
Long Beach State Texas Tech
3 2
Illinois Long Beach State
1 3
Women’s volleyball
No. 18 Florida State Long Beach State
The women’s volleyball team starts its season with a win, but it loses its next two matches.
No. 17 Kentucky Long Beach State
Cross Country
3 0
Mark Covert Classic Men’s 8k (Team) 1. Loyola Marymount 2. Cal State Fullerton 3. Long Beach State 4. San Diego 5. Pepperdine
By Daniel Van Hoosier Staff Writer
After a come-from-behind victory over Illinois on Friday night, the Long Beach State women’s volleyball team dropped consecutive matches against ranked opponents in the Long Beach State Mizuno Invitational. On Sunday, The Beach (1-2) closed out the annual tournament at the Walter Pyramid against No. 17 Kentucky in the most lopsided match of the weekend for either squad. The Wildcats swept the match — 2517, 27-25, 25-15 — behind the powerful hitting of senior Whitney Billings and sophomore Shelby Workman. The Kentucky leaders tallied 13 kills apiece while guiding the Wildcats to an overall hitting percentage of .371, while The Beach hit just .216. The 49ers’ best chance came late in the second set with an opportunity to tie the match at one. LBSU led 24-23 after a block by junior Bre Mackie, but an emphatic left-handed kill from Workman and an offensive miscue helped Kentucky regain the advantage. Senior
3 2
Amatullah Guyot | Daily 49er
Haleigh Hampton (8) and Alex Reid (25) get ready to defend against Florida State Saturday night. outside hitter Delainey Aigner-Swesey then tied the set once more with a big swing, but the Wildcats’ hitting proved to be just too much for the ‘Niners. “We just never had control of the match,” 49ers head coach Brian Gimmillaro said. “If you don’t have control, it doesn’t matter what the score is.” Gimmillaro said the reason for the loss may be as simple as insufficient practice time. “I don’t think we were fatigued. I just don’t think we’re ready yet,” he added. “It’s a tough opening weekend, and we’re not good enough to play at that level yet.” On Saturday night, LBSU held a two-sets-to-one lead over 18th-ranked Florida State before dropping the last two sets and the match, 15-25, 25-23, 20-25, 25-18, 15-12.
Nicole and Elise Walch paced the Seminoles with 21 and 15 kills, respectively, while FSU out-hit the 49ers .312 to .260. Aigner-Swesey led the ‘Niners with 17 kills to go along with eight digs and two block assists on .389 hitting. Sophomore Alex Reid added a double-double with 15 kills and 13 digs while hitting .297. Before the match, LBSU’s sand volleyball team was given its national championship rings honoring its victory over the very Florida State squad it was set to face. LBSU is the only school to have won national titles for both indoor and outdoor volleyball. The only win of the weekend for The Beach came in the opener on Friday against Illinois. After dropping the first set, the 49ers
came back to win three straight and take the match — 16-25, 25-19, 25-22, 25-17 — behind a trio of double-doubles from Aigner-Swesey, Reid and setter Erin Juley. The redshirt sophomore dished out 46 assists and added 12 digs. Haleigh Hampton also came up big for The Beach in her first official match in over a year, tallying 11 kills and six total blocks. “I think we do some things well, and at times we play very well, but we draw too many close games,” Gimmillaro said of the opening weekend. “If we score a point last night [Saturday], we win the match.” The Beach will go on to compete in the San Francisco tournament, playing Air Force and San Francisco on Friday and Miami on Saturday.
Men’s 8k (Individual) Jake Dawson Kevin Ramirez Emillo Nunez Andres Velasco Samuel Bautista Zach Diaz
7th 22nd 33rd 51st 71st 73rd
Women’s 5k (Individual) Hillary Zator Alexis Trujillo Andrea Gayton-Jacob Kathleen Dunne Ashley Carrera Taylor Goto Lali Avila
4th 41st 45th 56th 60th 64th 72nd
Women’s 5k (Team) 1. Loyola Marymount 2. Pepperdine 3. USC 4. Cal State Fullerton 5. San Diego State 6. Long Beach State 7. San Diego 8. Cal State Bakersfield
Long Beach State claims two top-10 spots at Mark Covert Classic Hillary Zator and Jake Dawson lead the 49er cross country teams in their season opener. By Michael Morris Assistant Sports Editor
The Long Beach State cross country teams traveled to Brea, Calif. on Saturday morning for the season-opening Mark Covert Classic and came back with two top-10 finishers. Hillary Zator and Jake Dawson placed in the top 10 in the women’s 5,000 me-
ters and men’s 8,000 meters, respectively, at Carbon Canyon Regional Park. Zator finished in fourth with a time of 18:10.8, and Dawson’s time of 25.51.0 earned him a seventh-place finish. Of the eight teams that competed in the women’s race, LBSU finished sixth, recording 144 points on the day. Loyola Marymount proved to be the stiffest competition, as it finished the day with 34 points. Pepperdine came in second with 66 points, and Southern California rounded out the top three with their 73 points. Cal
State Fullerton finished in fourth (95) and San Diego State took fifth (113). Sophomore Alexis Trujillo crossed the line in 41st with a time of 19:48.2, followed by senior Andrea Gayton-Jacob in 45th (19:54.7). Freshman Kathleen Dunne and Ashley Carrera both cracked the top 60, finishing in 56th and 60th respectively with Dunne posting a time of 20:06.06 and Carrera finishing in 20:09.4. Senior Taylor Goto placed 64th (20:12.3), and freshman Lali Avila finished in 72nd. The LBSU men’s team came away with a third-place finish out of the five teams with 82 points. LMU earned the champi-
onship with 22 points, 20 point ahead of second-place CSUF. SDSU finished behind the 49ers with 110 points, and Pepperdine came in last with 128 points. Freshman runners Kevin Ramirez and Emillo Nunez crossed the line in 22nd and 33rd, respectively, with Ramirez posting a time of 26:36.6 and Nunez finishing in 26:55.6. Freshman Andres Velasco finished just outside the top 50 with a 51st-place finish (27:19.4), followed by classmates Samuel Bautista in 71st (27:46.0) and Zach Diaz in 73rd (27:49.0). Senior Andrew Garcia finished in 84th. Although both teams were unable to win over the weekend, 49er cross coun-
try coach Patrick Wales-Dinan said he was happy with the steps that were made to start the season. “The men executed the race plan flawlessly,” Wales-Dinan told LBSU Athletics. “We are very excited about what we were able to get out of this competition and can’t wait to be joined by some more of our top people in the coming weeks. On the women’s side, Hillary Zator showed her ever growing fitness with a controlled effort in a strong field, and our young people got some very valuable experience.” LBSU will be back at it on Sept. 14 when it travels to Malibu for the Pepperdine Invitational.