The Long Beach State women’s soccer team was served an entree portion of experience and a side of cold revenge, but couldn’t finish the plate on Wednesday afternoon at George Allen Field as they battled No. 25 University of San Diego to a scoreless tie.

LBSU (5-6-1) lost at home last year to San Diego, and less than a month later was knocked out of the NCAA Tournament in the first round by the Toreros.  This year, USD (third in West Region) has not missed a beat replacing some talent up top and notched a quality win over Rutgers and a very quality tie with UCLA.

As for the tie yesterday, Long Beach coach Mauricio Ingrassia was pleased with his team’s effort.  “We had our opportunities, but that is a good team.  If you can’t win it you definitely don’t want to lose it.  I’m proud of our grit today.  After losing three and then playing well Sunday (win over UC Davis) we wanted to carry that level of play.  We held well today.”

The match was even in the midfield, and the Niners barely edged the Toreros in shots, 12-11. USD, however, held the advantage in shots on goal (6-to-3) and corner kicks (6-to-2) and once again it was the ‘Niner backline that withstood an offensive barrage.  This time it came at the beginning of the second half when San Diego earned back-to-back corners, but sophomore goalkeeper Emily Kingsborough (six saves) was there to punch them out and record her second shutout.

Junior Lindsay Bullock and freshman Nadia Link led The Beach on offense, but only Bullock’s flick on goal near the end of regulation and Link’s chip shot attempt over the keeper that landed on top of the net were the only real quality scoring opportunities.

The Toreros (6-4-2) looked like they were going to take a 1-0 lead at the 56:48 mark when Jackie Zinke was left with an open net after a scramble in the middle of the goalie box, but she was called for being offsides on the play.

Long Beach State ended a nine-game losing streak to San Diego as the 49ers are now 0-9-1 all-time against the Toreros.  “It’s not a rivalry ‘till we beat them,” said Ingrassia after the tie.  Long Beach is back at George Allen for more non-conference action on Sunday to close out the homestand against Cal State Bakersfield at 3pm.