Long Beach State women's soccer 2016 season preview

LONG BEACH >> During the first full day of training for the 2016 Long Beach State women’s soccer season earlier this month, 13th-year coach Mauricio Ingrassia’s first comment conceed a nonconference game four years ago.

The game was a 1-0 upset of No. 11-ranked BYU at George Allen Field, the highest-ranked opponent LBSU had beaten. The moment that led to that lone goal proved to be a program tuing point. Senior captain Eileen Maes hyperextended her leg chasing down a long ball in the first half; an injury that ended her season. A free kick was awarded, and in just her eighth game at LBSU, freshman Mimi Rangel bent a phenomenal shot into the side netting. Rangel celebrated by pointing to Maes on the sideline. “I played that one for (Maes); she’s my role model,” Rangel said at the time.

That was the high-water mark for the 2013 season. LBSU missed the Big West Conference Touament and finish 8-7-3.

“After (Maes) went down, the rest of that season was like a kindergarten class,” Ingrassia said. “Now this senior class is in charge. They’ve grown so much and we have great potential. This (season) is the result of building over the last three seasons.”

After the disappointment of 2013, LBSU reached the last two Big West championship games, falling to Cal State Fullerton in both finals. The 2015 Big West regular-season champions retu 17 letter-winners and will host the 2016 conference touament. The season features the toughest nonconference schedule Ingrassia has organized.

“This is one of the deepest, most athletic teams I’ve had here and we can be special this year,” said Ingrassia, who is trying to get his program to a sixth NCAA Touament in the last nine years.

He said that he isn’t rushing early-season training with a large core of established players and talented underclassman.

“Everyone is at a different level right now, so we just want to settle in and get our feet under us,” he said. “We’re still going though technical terminology. It’s about being ready (for Kentucky).”

LBSU opens the season Friday at 7 p.m. at Allen Field against the University of Kentucky and the 49ers will host Fairfield on Sunday at 5 p.m.

“This is one of the best schedules in the country,” Ingrassia said. “This fall (our fans) will be treated to some amazing encounters at home.”

LBSU will play nine of its 10 nonconference games at home, where it went 7-3-0 last season. Five of those 10 teams reached the 2015 NCAA Touament, including national champion Penn State, which will be in Long Beach on Sept. 4. LBSU will host USC on Aug. 26 and will travel to UCLA on Sept. 9.

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The eight retuing starters for LBSU include All-Big West Conference selections Rangel, Ashley Gonzales, Ashton McKeown and Rocio Rodriguez.

Senior captain Rangel, who was the Big West midfielder of the year in 2014 and freshman of the year 2013, has been a Big West first-team selection for three consecutive years. She had four assists in conference play last season and her 15 career assists ties for seventh in LBSU history. She is tied for eighth with 113 shots and tied for ninth with four game-winning goals.

“We’ve been developing our system of the last few seasons, so it’s easy for our coaches to add stuff,” Rangel said.

Junior striker Gonzales emerged as a go-to scorer with eight goals and six game-winners last season and Rodriguez made the All-Freshman Team thanks to her deft passing. She and Rangel showed that off last Saturday in an alumni exhibition game. They combined for two of seven goals in a 7-0 win.

Senior McKeown is back as the starting goalkeeper. She missed three games and the 2015 conference touament last season with an injury, but led the Big-West with a 0.59 goals against average and a .847 save percentage. Sophomore Imani McDonald started the games McKeown missed. Ingrassia insisted there is no goalie controversy.

“The (goalkeepers) are a tight group and they can all play,” Ingrassia said.

McKeown has surgically repaired her to labrum and said her time on the bench last season was very emotional.

“It was a reminder how much (soccer) means to me,” McKeown said. “I took that into every physical therapy session and now I want to take it into this season.”

Goalkeeper Cynthia Diaz, defender Mimi Akaogi and midfielder Celeste Dominguez are also three-year letter-winners with Akaogi and Dominguez being vital to running Ingrassia’s possession-based system.

“We want to be in control of everything on the field,” Ingrassia said. “Every pass has a purpose.”

He’s been preaching that to the 11 freshman on the roster and the early retus have been great. Ingrassia interchanged players, lineups and formations during the alumni game without losing much forward momentum.

“I’ve got 20 to 22 interchangeable players,” Ingrassia said. “We can play any formation, but our style doesn’t change. We’ll be versatile.”

Freshman Kaitlin Fregulia and Chloe Froment lead the incoming class and both are likely to get a lot of playing time. Froment, a member of the French youth national team, can play anywhere on the back line. Fregulia, a member of the 2014 Beach FC national championship team, can play almost anywhere.

“Our coaching staff has done a great job recruiting players that fit into our system,” McKeown said. “The leaing curve is smaller and the players are more confident.”

“The freshman class is unbelievably talented,” Rangel saidd. “We (upperclassmen) have to encourage them, tell them it’s OK to make a mistake and how to fix it. This is a fun group that is positive, focused and excited to work. I couldn’t ask for better my senior year.”

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