Beach Takes Down No. 11 USC, 1-0

August 26, 2016

LONG BEACH - The Long Beach State women's soccer team remained unbeaten with a 1-0 win over No. 11 USC in front of 1,656 fans, which was the second-largest home crowd in program history, Friday evening at George Allen Field.

The Beach improved to 2-0-1 and has now beaten or tied a ranked team every year since 2009. It is also the second year in a row the 49ers have defeated a Pac-12 team as they topped No. 4 UCLA, 1-0, last season.

"It was a tremendous performance against a very well-coached, and good, athletic team," LBSU head coach Mauricio Ingrassia said. "We had to get ourselves together after halftime. It wasn't one of those things that you could fix on the fly, but it was something that needed to be talked about. I really felt good about our second half. We got the first shot, first corner and we were on our front foot. We built some momentum and scored a very nice set piece goal. For us to score a set, get the win and get the shutout is big, and for us to beat UCLA and USC in successive seasons is fantastic."

Sophomore Dana Fujikuni, who redshirted the 2015 campaign, scored the game-winner on a corner kick from freshman Chloe Froment. It was the first career goal for Fujikuni and first career assist for Froment.

Senior Mimi Akaogi, junior Ashley Gonzales and sophomore Sarah Maher all added a shot on goal.

Froment also anchored the defensive effort in front of senior goalkeeper Ashton McKeown, who finished with two saves. It was Long Beach State's second consecutive clean sheet, and the 20th career shutout for McKeown.

The Beach struggled to find its rhythm in the first half as it couldn't quite connect in the attacking third. The 49ers made the necessary adjustments at intermission, however, as they came out of the break with a rekindled energy.

Gonzales had the first look of the second period with a shot that was picked up by USC goalkeeper Sammy Jo Prudhomme in the 47th minute. LBSU then threatened on a couple corner kicks before striking on their third of the night. At the 65:59 mark, Froment put a beautiful service over a Trojan defender to the back post where Fujikuni headed the ball past Prudhomme for the eventual game-winner.

USC (0-2-0) had a couple of chances in the final 10 minutes with a shot that hit the crossbar and a diving one-on-one save from McKeown.

The Trojans finished with 13 shots, but only two were on frame. Morgan Andrews paced USC with five attempts.

Long Beach State returns to George Allen Field on Monday, August 29, for a 7 p.m. tilt with San Diego State.