ALUMNI SOCCER

Danny Suits (LAHS '06) played all 90 minutes in the UCLA Bruins 1-0 win over New Mexico in the first round of the NCAA Mens Soccer Tournament. The Bruins seek revenge against Santa Clara in a Wednesday night second round match. Go to UCLA soccer website

Oklahoma State senior defender Niccole Grimaldi (LAHS '04, shown left) has been named a second-team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American for women's soccer. Grimaldi also made the Big 12 all-academic team for the third straight year.

Hayley Bolt (LAHS '05) was named to the Big West All-Conference first team for the second straight year. The ex-Griffin finished her junior season with four goals and four assists. Bolt was one of five 49ers to earn conference honors. Once again joining Bolt on the first team was Kim Silos, while Kristen Keifer and Marika Strickland were second-teamers and Sara Baca was honorable mention. Long Beach State captured the Big West conference regular season title but fell to Cal Poly SLO in the conference playoff semi-finals. Beach ended its season with a 13-7-0 record.

Mandy Trojan (LAHS '06) earned honorable mention All-Big Sky Conference honors for her goalkeeping at Sacramento State. Trojan finished second in the conference in goals against average (0.73), shutouts (8) and shutouts per game (0.47). Her eight clean sheets were the most in program history. Sacramento State downed Portland State 1-0 to win the conference championship. They fell to Stanfoprd in the first round of the NCAA playoffs.

September 11, 2007

Ex-Griffin Bennett helps Arizona to 2-0 upset over No. 3 Texas

Lauren Bennett (Seal Beach/ LAHS '07) started on the back line and played the entire game for Arizona in three wins, -- the biggest being a 2-0 upset of #3 ranked Texas Sunday night. The 'Cats also beat Nevada (Reno) 2-1 on Friday and edged Cal Poly SLO 4-3 a week ago. Bennett's former Griffin back-line teammate Taylor Cole has been seeing good action for SLO but has had to sit out the last few games with tendonitis in her knee.

Senior Niccole Grimaldi's goal less than two minutes into overtime gave 20th-ranked Oklahoma State a 2-1 win over New Mexico in the Cowgirls' season opener on Aug. 31. Former Infinity '89 goalkeeper Kaitlyn Gustaves (okay she's Long Beach and went to Wilson, but she worked at Bogart's Coffehouse in Seal Beach) and is now a freshman a O-State, split time in the goal in the team's last two wins.

#23 ranked Long Beach State (Hayley Bolt, Julie Megorden/LAHS '05) made a good showing but came away with two losses on their trip to the Carolinas last week. The 49ers did not allow No. 20 Clemson to take a shot in the second half, but two first half goals by the Tigers held up for the 2-1 win. Last Wednesday Beach fell to No. 24 Wake Forest 1-0 on a goal off a corner kick scramble. The 49ers play No. 19 Brigham Young on Tuesday.

Freshman Ginger Sossaman (Long Beach/LAHS '07) recorded her first career goal in Boise State's 9-0 win over Southern Utah on Sunday. She also saw 21 minutes of action in Boise State's 3-0 loss to Oregon

Rocky Hearst (Rossmoor, LAHS '05) scored a goal for Evansville in its 3-0 win over Western Illinois. Hearst had an assist a week earlier in the the Purple Aces 2-1 win over Austin Peay. Evansville is now 3-1.

Virgina Tech (Megan Strawther, Rossmoor/LAHS '06) ) upset #13 ranked Tennessee 2-1 last Friday. But then the Hokies (probably still in shock over the LSU pummeling of their football teams the night before) tied Loyola of Maryland 1-1 on Sunday.

Pepperdine - which has three former Griffins on its roster, Erin Bay, Casey Bay and Bo Medina, is off to a 0-2-1 start, after falling at Ohio State 1-0 on Friday. The loss was close, but the Waves were outshot 21-4. Pepperdine had lost to Wake Forest and tied Duke the week before.

Former Griffin keeper Mandy Trojan (LAHS '06/Rossmoor) ran her scoreless streak to start the season to 250:55 before being pulled in the 71st-minute in a 5-1 win over Fresno State on Sunday. Trojan has posted two shutouts for Sac State, via a 4-0 win over Sat. Mary's and a 2-0 win over San Jose State. The Hornets are picked as the favorite to win the Big Sky Conference this season.

On the boys side - Danny Suits (LAHS '06/Rossmoor) has started the last two games for UCLA, unfortunately the Bruins who entered the season ranked No. 1, came away with a 0-0 tie against No. 17 Creighton and lost to No. 7 Indiana 1-0.

Sammy Montemer (LAHS '04, Rossmoor) scored in the 52nd minute to lift Westmont to a 2-1 win over Cal State San Marcos at the Azusa Pacific tournament on Saturday to improve its record to 4-0. Westmont defeated Corban of Oregon 4-1 on Friday. Montemer scored his first goal of the season in a 2-1 win over Northwestern Iowaon Sept. 1.

Freshman Macaine Piercy (Valley Christian '07/Rossmoor) got an assist as Point Loma Nazarene downed visiting La Sierra 3-0 Thursday. Piercy earlier had a goal and assist in wins over Cal State San Marcos and Southwestern College (of Arizona).

August 23, 2007

COLLEGE SOCCER: Long Beach opens '07 campaign with 5-0 win over Azusa Pacific

The Long Beach Girls soccer team (with Hayley Bolt and Julie Megorden, both LAHS '05) began its 2007 season on a strong note Thursday afternoon as it downed Azusa Pacific University 5-0 at George Allen Field.

The Beach, coached by Maricio Ingrassia (shown above), got on the board in under five minutes against APU, which reached the NAIA finals last season. Taking advantage of some APU defensive uncertainty, 49er junior midfielder Kim Silos sent a corner kick which was ping ponged off some heads a few times before freshman Kristen Kiefer headed in the scorer. Kiefer struck again ten minutes later when she blooped in a header over the goalie a blooper. While those two goals probably were more a result of defensive mistakes, Kiefer, a CIF champion hurdler at Capo Valley last year, looked very impressive in her first game for Beach, justifying Ingrassia's high expectations for her this season. "She's a scorer. Whatever it takes, she's seemingly always in a position to score."
Silos, added a goal of her own later and freshman midfielder Lindsay Bullock poked in a fourth goal to close out the first half scoring.
Beach played most of the match without junior midfielder Hayley Bolt, the Big West Midfielder of the Year, who rolled her right ankle early in the contest. APU saw very limited service from sophomore forward Theresa Broad, last year's NAIA Region II Player of the Year, who has been hampered by a damaged sesomoid bone in the foot.

Bullock and Kiefer were two of four freshmen starters (Caroline Shevlin and Nikki Myers) whose presence gives the 49ers more depth than last year. Center back Tara Corcoran also turned in a steady game, splitting time with Megorden.
The Beach enters the season ranked No. 23 by Soccer Buzz, No. 25 by the National Soccer coaches, and are also the coaches' pick to win the win Big West Conference. This year they will play six teams that reached the NCAA tournament last season, plus two more which are ranked in the Top 30.

(Here is coach Mauricio's Ingrassia personal invite to yesterday's game -- he was very proud of his graphics work so I promised I would link to it.)

LOCAL ALUMS: Rocky Hearst (LAHS '05/Rossmoor) and her Evansville Purple Aces are picked to win the Missouri Valley Conference title... Illinois (Jamie Alvis '05/Cypress) opens its pre-season on Friday against Butler...Niccole Grimaldi (LAHS '04/Rossmoor) and Oklahoma State, ranked 23rd in the National Coaches poll, scrimmages TCU this Friday... Virginia Tech (Megan Strawther LAHS '06/Rossmoor) travels to Vanderbilt for its final pre-season tune-up on Friday. Vandy made the NCAA tournament last season. Tech, picked 8th in the tough ACC, stomped Miami of Ohio 6-0 last Friday. Mandy Trojan (LAHS '06/Rossmoor) turned in a shutout half in Sacramento State's 4-2 pre-season win over Chico State last Sunday. The Hornets play at University of San Francisco this Sunday...Danielle Drucker (LAHS '07/Los Alamitos) started the second half in Humboldt State's scrimmage against Southern Oregon last week. Humboldt, a Div. 2 team way up at the redwood-laden north pole of California (aka Arcata) opens its season Thursday against Sonoma State

Links to all local alumni playing college and pro ball are available on our LocalSports Soccer page.

PROFESSIONAL -- Jon Bornstein (LAHS '02/UCLA/Los Alamitos) and Chivas USA take on Galaxy and David Beckham Thursday night. Bornstein must be suffering jet lag after playing with the US National team in its 1-0 loss at Sweden on Wednesday.

Week 3 - ending September 10, 2006

Led by former Griffin Hayley Bolt, the Long Beach State womens soccer team is off to its best start in school history. The 49ers, which downed Southern Utah 2-0 and University of San Francisco 1-0 this past weekend, are now 5-1. Their only loss came on Sept. 3 against national powerhouse UCLA when they fell 1-0 on a late goal.
Bolt (LAHS '05) and starting 49er defender Julie Megorden ('05) are two of 10 former Lady Griffins playing Div I college soccer.

Niccole Grimaldi (LAHS ’04) is a starting defender for Oklahoma State, which suffered its first loss of the season on Sunday, falling 1-0 to Loyola Marymount which scored with 50 seconds remaining in the second overtime at the Loyola Marymount Tournament. Oklahoma State defeated Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on Friday.
For Grimaldi it was a homecoming. Not only did lots of relatives and friends show up to see her play, her parents hosted a team dinner for Grimaldi’s Cowgirl teammates at their Rossmoor home.

Rocky Hearst (LAHS '05) scored her first goal of the season for Evansville last Sunday, but it didn't hold up as Belmont defeated Evansville 2-1. Evansville routed Troy 7-0 on Friday. The Purple Aces are now 2-3-0 heading into next Saturday's home match with the Virginia Tech Hokies.
The Hokies come into the game with a 4-1-1 record after splitting a pair at their own tournament this past weekend. On Friday they fell to James Madison 3-2, but they dropped Liberty 2-0, outshooting them 21-7. Hearst’s former Griffin teammate Megan Strawther, a freshman on the Virginia Tech team, missed both games due to illness, but should see action next week. She starts in their flat four defense and comes off the bench when they use a three-back defense.

Former Griffin keeper Mandy Trojan (LAHS '06) stopped a penalty kick but couldn’t stop a rebound shot as Washington State ended Sacramento State's 3-game win skein, 1-0, on Sunday. On Friday, the Hornets recorded their largest victory over a Division I opponent in program history, blanking Idaho 6-0. Trojan played half the contest.

Pepperdine improved its record to 3-1-2 with a win and a tie this past weekend at home. On Friday they downed Tulsa 3-1, and on Sunday they played Wisconsin to a 1-1 tie. Ex-Griffin Bo Medina (LAHS '06) started both games at the forward position this past weekend.

Wright State remained undefeated this year, coming from behind to beat Dusquesne 2-1 on Sunday and downing cross-state rival Kent State 5-0 on Friday. Former Griffin Dana Meisner (’06) saw action in both contests.

MENS ALUMNI

Former Griffin Jon Bornstein continues to impress with Chivas USA in Major League Soccer. He is considered one of the top candidates for the league's Rookie of the Year award. For you Bornstein junkies out there, he did a Q&A with Soccer365.com.

Ex-Griffin Ryan G ay assisted on two goals to help Cal State Bakersfield to a 4-1 victory over Fresno Pacific last weekend.

Former Griffin Geremy Uhl is hoping to lead USF to its third straight WCC title. The 8th ranked Dons (4-0-1) won the Penn State Classic championship last weekend and face Cal State Northridge Friday and #8 UCLA Sunday in the Southland.

Former Griffin Mike Munoz (LAHS '02), now playing for Chivas USA, underwent successful surgery to repair a derangement of his right ankle. Munoz has had recurring ankle problems for the past few years. While he is re-habbing, he is helping coach the Infinity U17 club soccer team.

Week 2 - ending September 3

Former Griffin Hayley Bolt #24 scored a goal as Long Beach State improved its record to 3-0 with a 2-0 win over Southern Utah on Friday. The 49ers fell to high-ranked UCLA 1-0 on a late goal on Sunday afternoon.

Oklahoma State (3-0) downed Michigan State 2-0 on Friday, then played Michigan to a 1-1 draw on Sunday. The Cowgirls (with former Griffin Niccole Grimaldi starting at defender) will play nationally ranked Texas A&M on national television (Fox Soccer Channel) on September 27.

Illinois, which began the season ranked #13, dropped to 1-3 as the Illini fell to #9 Texas A&M 3-0 in the first game of a Big 10-Big 12 matchup, then dropped a heart-breaking game to Texas on Sunday.

Evansville had a tough weekend at the Middle Tennessee State University Classic. The Purple Aces fell to Middle Tennessee 3-1 on Friday and Western Kentucky 2-1 in overtime on Sunday. Rocky Hearst (LAHS '05) got off two shots for the Purple Aces in Friday's game.

#20 Pepperdine played Dayton to a 2-2 tie in the first game of their own Puma Classic Tournament. On Sunday, the Waves play Ohio State, 4-1 winners over San Diego on Friday.

Virginia Tech (Megan Strawther, LAHS '06) improved its record to 3-0-1 as the Hokies downed University of North Carolina-Greensboro 1-0 on Friday, then High Point University 3-2 on Sunday.

Wright State remained undefeated, running their record to 2-0-2. On Friday they tied Louisville 0-0, then downed Eastern Kentucky 3-0 on Sunday. Freshman Dana Meisner (LAHS '06)saw action in both games.

Mandy Trojan recorded her first collegiate shutout as Sacramento State downed St. Mary's 1-0 in sudden-death overtime on August 29. The Hornets play UC Davi

Week 1 -- ending August 28

11 Griffin alums started off the 2006 college soccer season this weekend... and one continued his hot play in the MLS...

WOMEN'S SOCCER

Oklahoma State junior (Niccole Grimaldi, started) breezed past Texas State 10-0 on Friday, then downed Missouri State 2-1 on Sunday...

#28 Long Beach State (Hayley Bolt, Julie Megorden) opened its season with a pair of 1-0 wins up in rain country, downing Oregon on Friday and Portland State on Sunday. Bolt scored on a PK on Sunday. It is the first 2-0 start in school history.

#13 Illinois (Jamie Alvis) defeated South Carolina 1-0... then fell to Missouri 5-0 on Sunday...

Evansville (Rocky Hearst) cruised to a 4-0 win over Austin Peay

Freshman Bo Medina came off the bench to score two goals as #20 Pepperdine downed Idaho 5-0 on Friday... The Waves then fell 2-1 in overtime to Cal Poly SLO on Sunday.

Virginia Tech (Megan Strawther, LAHS '06) outshot its opponents 24-8 but had to settle for a 1-1 tie with George Mason in their opener on Friday... then crushed cross county rival Radford 6-0 on Sunday.

Wright State (Dana Meisner, sub) held #25 Nebraska to a 1-1 tie...

Sacramento State fell to Nevada 2-0 in their season opener on Sunday. Ex-Griffin goalkeeper Mandy Trojan played the second half, making one save while allowing no goals.

MEN'S SOCCER

Rookie Jon Bornstein scored his sixth goal of the season and added an assist as Chivas USA downed Houston 3-2 in an MLS match Saturday night. A week ago, Bornstein, considered a front-runner for the league's Rookie of the Year award, scored to give Chivas a 1-1 tie with Kansas City.

UCLA (Danny Suits, LAHS '06) tied Cal State Northridge 1-1 in their season opener.