The562’s coverage of Long Beach State athletics for the 2022-23 season is sponsored by Marilyn Bohl.
The562’s season previews for the 2022-23 school year are sponsored by Vertical Raise, the official team fundraising partner of The562.
There are plenty of reasons for Long Beach State women’s soccer fans to be excited about this season, and a big one is the return of Elysia Laramie. The redshirt junior can play up top and be a reliable anchor on the back line. Ingrassia called her “our backbone” as she shakes off a knee injury and gets on the field for the first time since 2019.
“I’m feeling excited, prepared and confident,” Laramie said. “(The injury) is in the past now and I’m using it to push me forward.”
LBSU opened the season on Thursday at home against Pacific.
Laramie, who was first-team All-Big West as a sophomore, thinks that working with private trainer Robert Miller alongside teammates Silano, sophomore Summer Laskey and sophomore Alia Sinoff helped her prepare her mind.
“Mentally (the injury) was holding me back,” Laramie said. “I was cleared in April but mentally I didn’t feel ready to play soccer even though they were telling me I was. I just needed more work on my confidence and now I feel ready to go.”
Returning starting goalkeeper Morgan Houston-Shepherd said she’s excited to improve an already strong connection with Laramie despite the fact they haven’t played together. The redshirt sophomore had a 0.96 goals against average last year and thinks improvement with a new backline will come with communication.
“I think this team has a lot of potential,” Houston-Shepherd said. “As a goalie we have to communicate so much and I want to have communication both ways and they need to understand where they need to be.”
Laramie will be joined on the back line with junior Aleea Caceres, sophomore Alia Spinoff and junior Aimee Medwin to start the season. Caceres started 10 games in the midfield last season after being named to the All-Big West Freshman Team in 2019.
Come back tomorrow for more LBSU season previews!
