The562’s coverage of Long Beach State athletics for the 2025-26 season is sponsored by Marilyn Bohl.
It’s hard to know how to feel after a draw, but Long Beach State coach Mauricio Ingrassia was satisfied with the result against UC Irvine on Sunday night.
The Beach (4-4-3, 1-0-2) hosted the Anteaters (6-3-5, 3-1-1) at George Allen Field for their Black and Blue rivalry match and took the lead on a Jordan Candelaria goal in the 21st minute. UC Irvine found the equalizer just minutes later, and the teams played out a scoreless final hour, with the Beach holding off a relentless Anteater attack in the second half to earn a 1-1 draw.
“This was a very good matchup for us and Irvine is a very good team,” Ingrassia said after the game. “There are draws that are not good draws and some that are. We don’t want a draw at home, but the way the game went I felt like it was good to get a result.”
The Beach earned three of their four corner kicks in the first half and capitalized on one midway through the period. Ameera White sent one across the field to Julie Lopez, who squared it back across goal for Candelaria to tuck in at the right post, giving the Beach a 1-0 lead in the 21st minute.
“It felt good to be in the right place at the right time,” Candelaria said of her goal. “We’ve just been practicing those sets and making sure we have framers around the goal, so when I saw Julie with the ball I knew I just had to be at the right place at the right time and it was just a good opportunity to be right there.”
UC Irvine found a response in the 28th minute on a ball from Mia Colombini on the left side of the field. The senior dribbled across the corner of the 18-yard box before sending a shot into the upper-right corner of the net to tie the game at 1-1.
Long Beach State outshot the Anteaters 4–3 in the first half and held a 5–4 advantage in fouls. In the 35th minute, the Beach had another close chance when Cherrie Cox took the ball into traffic just feet from goal, but UC Irvine goalkeeper Laurynn Ziller was there to intervene.
The Beach finished the game outshot 10–7, after a second half largely dominated by UC Irvine. The Anteaters held a 7–3 shot advantage in the final 45 minutes and maintained possession for most of the half.
“I felt like we couldn’t hold the ball as well as we normally do, and that’s credit to them,” Ingrassia said. “ I think they pressed us into some things. We changed shapes to be able to match the game better, and I just didn’t think we were great on the ball.”
UC Irvine’s best opportunity to take the lead came in the 79th minute, when a Long Beach penalty inside the box set up a penalty kick for Ariane Haysman Boaler. Long Beach State goalkeeper Aurora Schuck dove to her left, correctly anticipating the shot and swallowing the attempt to keep the half scoreless.
“That just felt like my helping towards the tie,” Schuck said after the game. “Everyone worked so hard and that was just my contribution to it.”
Ahead of the kick, Ingrassia shouted to Schuck and pointed to her left, indicating the direction he thought she should dive. Schuck laughed after the game, saying Ingrassia confirmed what she had already thought to do. She finished the game with three saves and kept a clean sheet in the second half.
“Some people say PKs are just guessing, others have strategies. I’m a bit of both,” Schuck said. “When I saw Mauricio pointing to a side, that was extra intuition. He knows what he’s talking about and I saved it, so I really thank him for that. I have a secret of my own I base it on, but what Mauricio was doing on the sideline was just confirmation of it.”
Long Beach State will continue Big West play with a pair of away games in the coming week against Cal State Bakersfield on Thursday and UC Davis on Sunday. The Beach will be back home against Cal Poly on Oct. 16.
