The Long Beach State women’s soccer team came home to George Allen Field on Thursday night looking for more offense, but they found heartbreak as visiting UCF scored in the 90th minute to steal a 2-1 victory.
“It’s obviously very disappointing to not take that into overtime,” LBSU coach Mauricio Ingrassia said. “But these are things a young team has to learn. I know we’re improving and tonight was proof of that. I thought we were very good. This was a very good team that we played, but we have to find a way to create a little more offense.”
LBSU (2-6-0) dominated possession in the first half while edging UCF (4-1-2) in shots 10-8, shots on goal 5-2, and corner kicks 5-3. The Knights opened the scoring in the 65th minute when Zandy Soree’s shot took a key deflection through the LBSU wall to beat goalkeeper Ashley Seymour, who had two great saves on the night.
Kaylee Ramirez netted the equalizer in the 68th minute when she tucked a free kick inside the far post.
“We saw the near post be he said to got the far post which is where the keeper was which is why I was a little bit skeptical about going there,” Ramirez said. “So I knew I had to have the perfect shot for it to get past her and luckily I did.”
Long Beach State Women’s Soccer Kaylee Ramirez Goal
Visit The562.org for more Long Beach sports coverage.
“She’s really confident in herself and it’s showing. She’s clutch.”
The game looked like it was headed to overtime until UCF’s Ellie Moreno won a 50/50 ball at the edge of the box with less than a minute left in the game and poked it past Seymour.
LBSU will be back at George Allen Field next Thursday at 7 p.m. to host BYU.
