A week after its frustrating conference opening draw on the road, Long Beach State women’s soccer bounced back to score a 3-2 Big West win at Hawaii last Thursday.
Hawaii took the lead on a 23rd minute own goal, but LBSU (6-4-2, 1-0-1) got goals from Katie Pingel (30′), Taylor Bistline (71′) and Sarah Maher (78′) on assists from Elysia Laramie, Rola Badawiya and Dana Fujikuni to take a 3-1 advantage. The 49ers have an assist on all 23 goals scored this season, which leads the Big West.
LBSU outshot its hosts 14-11, but Hawaii had six shots on goal and the 49ers only had one shot on goal in the second half. LBSU goalkeeper Imani McDonald made four saves, and Hawaii’s Alexis Mata made six saves. LBSU hasn’t lost to Hawaii in their 10 meetings.
The Beach returns to George Allen Field for two games this week against Cal Poly on Thursday, and UC Santa Barbara on Sunday. Both games are scheduled for 6 p.m.
LBSU and Cal Poly are tied for fifth in the Big West with four points each. Cal Poly goalkeeper Sophia Brown leads the conference with 92 saves this season. The Mustangs lead the all-time series 12-7-4 and won this matchup 3-2 at home last season.
UCSB (9-5-0, 2-1-0) has one of the best players in the conference in Shaelan Murison who leads the Big West in goals (9), points (22) and shots (58) this season. Mallory Hromatko has a conference-best six assists. LBSU leads this all-time series 15-11-1, but the Gauchos beat the Beach 3-0 last season.
Women’s Volleyball
LBSU (11-8, 3-3) split a pair of Big West matches at home over the weekend to snap a losing streak. The Beach fell to UC Irvine in four sets before defeating UC Davis 25-21, 18-25, 25-21, 25-19. Senior Tyler Spriggs led all scorers with a career-high 23 kills in the victory, while freshman setter Carly Aigner-Swesey posted a double-double with 36 assists and 10 digs. Senior Emma Krist still leads the conference with 1.11 blocks per set after collecting nine blocks over the weekend.
The Beach is headed to the big island this weekend to renew the rivalry with Hawaii (9-6, 5-1) on Friday night. LBSU and Hawaii have played some of the best and biggest women’s volleyball matches in the Walter Pyramid, and Hawaii leads the all-time series 33-18-1. LBSU hasn’t beaten Hawaii since 2016.
Men’s Water Polo
No. 10 LBSU (6-5, 0-1) scored five straight goals to erase an early deficit against No. 11 Pepperdine on Friday night at Ken Lindgren Aquatics Center, but the visitors pulled away late to win 10-8. LBSU is on a four-game losing streak. Senior Keegan Wicken and junior Johnathan Wong each scored twice for the Beach. Sophomore goalkeeper Marwan Darwish finished with nine saves.
After facing No. 3 Stanford on Thursday, LBSU will stay in Palo Alto to play four games in three days as part of the NorCal Tournament. The 49ers start the tournament Friday at 2:50 p.m. against UC Davis.
Women’s Tennis
LBSU hosted the Beach Tennis Tournament over the weekend. Freshman Dominique Meyer and junior Natalia Munoz each went 6-2 over three days. Both of them went 3-1 in singles, and finished 3-1 together in doubles.
