Now that we’ve had a couple of days to digest the Long Beach State women’s soccer team’s season debut over the weekend, let’s take a look at the performance and what we can deduce about the coming campaign.

The 49ers dropped the home exhibition game to San Diego State by a 2-1 score, a result not embarrassing in the least considering the Aztecs have high expectations this season and are predicted to finish second in a tough Mountain West Conference while the 49ers are rebounding from a terrible year and were predicted to finish sixth in the Big West. Scores hardly matter in preseason games anyway, as coaches are eager to see their team’s effort and cohesion over scoring output.

But the 2-1 loss is troubling in one way, perhaps foreshadowing that the 49ers are falling into the same mistakes that crippled their season last year.

Long Beach State took thirteen shots compared to just four by San Diego State, yet converted those attempts into just one goal while their opponents earned two. And though the 49ers controlled possession through the entire first half, it was the Aztecs that were able to score. Twice.

FOr the 49ers, three shots from senior midfielder Karina Camacho and three from sophomore forward Nadia Link produced exactly zero goals. Let’s stop right here; those six shots are already more than San Diego State attempted in the entire game. Finally, three shots from All-Big West player Lindsay Bullock gave The Beach their only goal, on a rebound header in the second half.

It’s identical to the problem that Long Beach had last year, when the young squad would routinely control possession and outshoot their opponents, but fail to put the ball in the back of the net. The frustrations piled up into losses, and it handed the 49ers a 5-11-3 record, the first losing season for head coach Mauricio Ingrassia since coming to The Beach in 2004. The 49ers did not make the conference tournament for the first time since Ingrassia’s first season.

Many chalked up last season’s poor showing to a youthful roster. Certainly, there was enough talent across the board, with a slew of prized recruits and two midfielders – Bullock and Shawna Gordon – named to the All-Conference team. Now that everyone is a year older, the high expectations are back again – pay no mind to the sixth place predictions – and fans will expect the 49ers to convert opportunities into goals. They’re already among the best in the country at controlling the ball and putting themselves in scoring opportunities, but for whatever reason Long Beach State is downright allergic to scoring goals.

The encouraging thing is that the 49ers showed they have no trouble creating scoring opportunities against a quality opponent like San Diego State (they also earned five corner kicks compared to just one for SDSU). But they’ll just need to learn how to score all over again, how to win all over again. After a tough season like last year, with so many young players, a team can fall into a “routine of losing” if they’re unable to break out of the slump. And the year is not going to get any easier as Long Beach faces a lineup of teams with at least the talent of SDSU.

Of course, when you are able to take that many shots, there’s always the chance that things will click. Despite the poor performance last season, Long Beach State can keep looking back to that 4-1 scoring outburst over heavily-favored Missouri back in Columbia last year if they need any motivation. This team is certainly capable of putting up the points, and there’s no reason that the players and their fans shouldn’t expect to see them get it done this year.

Their next chance to make good on those opportunities is this Friday, when the 49ers host the BYU Cougars in their home season opener. A notoriously physical team, expect BYU to bring it hard to George Allen Field on the Long Beach State campus for the 5:00pm kick-off.