University of San Diego senior Ashley Kirk had the only goal of the match in the 80th minute, putting in a ball that managed to squirm through the heart of the ‘Niners defense off a corner kick.

USD will move on to the next round to face powerhouse UCLA on Sunday, while the Beach ends its most successful season with a 14-5-4 record and graduate a senior class that will forever be the face of this ascending soccer program.

“I thought we played very well,” said head coach Mauricio Ingrassia after the game. “The name of the game is to stick the ball in the back of the net and they stuck one in on us. I’m really proud of the team.  I’m proud of their effort. We talked about coming out here and playing our best and we came close to that. We left it out on the field.”

Long Beach State controlled the game’s tempo the entire second half after a shaky start to the match. Nerves were evident through the first ten minutes of play as erratic ball control gave way to three Toreros corner kicks in the first ten minutes. The ‘Niners answered with their own corner kick opportunity in the 15th minute when Bo Rael and Kim Silos saw their back to back shots ricochet off USD defenders. That was the case for most of the night as San Diego goalkeeper Brittany Cameron needed to make only one save in the match. 

The momentum had shifted back momentarily towards the Long Beach as neither team played their best soccer of the year, but it was the ‘Niners who gained confidence and possession of the ball as the match prolonged.

The ‘Niners defense was stingy like it was for most of the season, despite the absence of freshman Nicole Hubbard and senior leader Sara Baca, who played only in the first half after rolling her ankle. Instead, sophomore midfielder Lindsey Bullock spent most of the night on the back end of the field as did Dana Farquhar, an explosive winger, which took away from her ability to move up along the flanks and set up those lovely crosses her forwards love to receive.

Freshman Shawna Gordon showed good poise with the ball, roaming the spacious middle of the field for the ‘Niners in the first half and keeping it up in the second half in one of the few moments where the Beach displayed their pinball-precion touches.  In the 75th minute she worked a Nash-like give-and-go with senior Kim Silos dropping a ball to senior Hayley Bolt who tried to give it back to Gordon for a shot, but the Torero defense clamped down on it quickly, like they had for most of the night on Long Beach threats.

The crowd of 1,208 (majority Long Beach faithful) witnessed a dramatic finish to the match when sophomore Kristen Kiefer’s cross was headed just wide-right of the goal by a diving Bolt with the clock ticking to its conclusion. Kiefer was a spark off the bench for Ingrassia, creating opportunities upfield on nearly every touch, but to no avail. Bolt, the senior leader on this team, lay motionless on the grass as USD celebrated their win.

“We had a couple chances that were in the same spot on their side of the field,” said senior goalkeeper Liz Ramos. “I just think it’s heartbreaking that (they scored) with 10 minutes left. We worked so hard and we definitely were dominant that half.”

Ramos, who will leave Long beach State as the most prolific goal stopper in the program’s 10-year history, said that she didn’t see a threatening shot for the first 20 minutes of the second half, and had nothing but confidence her team was heading for the win.

“I never thought for one-second that they were going to win–ever,” she said. “I’m so proud of our team for getting this far.”

Speaking of far, while the ‘Niners only had to travel through traffic up the 405, the Toreros made a familiar 130-mile trip to the UCLA campus. This was their fourth match at Drake Stadium this season and the sixth year in a row they have played at UCLA for the opening round of the NCAA tournament. The ‘Niners, however, struggled early to acclimate themselves to the field that was wider and longer than what they are used to at the GAF (George Allen Field). Still, coach Ingrassia had his team prepared for their rematch of their last loss on the season to USD on October 9th. Coach Ingrassia was awarded his first Big West Conference coach of the year award earlier in the week for leading his team to their third BW regular season title in a row.

“I remember (coach Ingrassia) calling me when I was a senior in high school, when he told me what was going to happen, how he was going to build a program,” Bolt said. “I wanted to be a part of it so bad. And he has completely changed this program.  He is an amazing coach.  He eats, breathes, dreams soccer.  I have so much respect for him, he really is a great coach.”

And despite the departure of 11 seniors, coach Ingrassia’s team uni’s might as well be sewn with silver lining. He will bring back a core group of underclassmen for next season, starting with Bullock, Kiefer, Gordon, the Shevlin twins and the backline of Rael and Hubbard.

“We’re just the beginning,” Bolt said. “This is just the beginning.”