A third goal in three Big West Conference games from sophomore Elysia Laramie wasn’t enough for Long Beach State women’s soccer in a 2-1 loss to Cal State Fullerton. The Titans (9-2-1, 2-0) scored twice in the second half at George Allen Field to steal the points on Thursday night at George Allen Field.
“It’s unfortunate because I think we played pretty well,” Long Beach State coach Mauricio Ingrassia said. “We had a chance to score the second goal and we didn’t do it. You have to score goals to win the game.”
After LBSU gained some footing by attacking the seems of the CSUF defense, the first goal was the product of a 30th minute free kick taken by Kaitlin Fregulia near midfield that was flicked over to Laramie by Sierra Castles. Laramie spun at the top of the 18-yard box and buried a shot into the top half of the far side for her fourth goal of the season.
“Usually I’m told I’m more of a power forward chasing onto balls and running though the play,” Laramie said. “This was kind of a new goal for me. I haven’t scored a lot of these, which was nice. Honestly, when it went in I wasn’t sure it was a goal. I was just going to hit it as hard as I could and went for it.”
LBSU outshot CSUF 11-8 and had two golden opportunities to take a two-goal lead early in the second half. Instead, CSUF forward Atlanta Primus drew a foul at the top of the box in the 55th minute and bent the free kick in for the equalizer.
Ten minutes later, Maddie Bennett pounced on an LBSU turnover and gave CSUF the game-winning goal. Primus and Bennett both have a conference leading nine goals this season.
Marta Alemany Sanchez made four saves in goal for the Beach, and Ayana Robles had a career-high three shots while doing a fantastic job of marking Bennett on defense.
“We’re still very young with only two seniors, and only one on the field for most of the night,” Ingrassia said. “There’s still a lot of season left so we’ll regroup.”
LBSU (3-9-0, 1-2) hosts UC Davis next Friday at 7 p.m.
