LONG BEACH, Calif. — Malea Johnson's goal in the 51st minute aided Long Beach State to a 1-0 victory over Cornell at George Allen Field on a seasonable mid-September Friday night in Southern California.

Aurora Schuck recorded a one-save clean sheet for the Beach (3-4-1), snapping its modest two-match losing streak.

Senior goalkeeper Erica Fox shined in her season debut for the Big Red (1-3-4), making six saves in the setback. It was her most saves in a contest since also stopping six shots against Harvard last season on Oct. 7.

Junior defender Gaby Gonzalez recorded Cornell's lone shot on goal, heading a corner kick in the 62nd minute.

"Very disappointed, as you always are after a loss," Cornell women's soccer head coach Rob Ferguson said. "The team performed well and executed our plan in the first half. We made adjustments in the second half to be a bit more aggressive, press, and try to cause them more problems. When we did press in the first half, we caused them problems. The goal came pretty early [in the second half] and was a bad goal on our part to concede."

Fox made five of her six saves in the opening 45 minutes. One of her most important saves occurred in the 27th minute when a shot by Johnson deflected off a Cornell defender and headed towards the goal. Fox showcased her excellent reflexes by making a diving save to prevent the goal.

Long Beach State's Liz Worden nearly opened the scoring in the 42nd minute when her shot from distance hit the woodwork and bounced out of danger in Cornell's favor.

In the final three minutes of the first half, Makayla Demelo had two shots in quick succession. Her first attempt was a powerful shot from the top of the 18-yard box. After a Cornell turnover in its defensive third, Demelo tried to break open the scoring again, but Fox thwarted the aspirations of the Beach's redshirt junior midfielder.

Coming out of the halftime break buzzing, Long Beach State ultimately drew first blood in the 51st minute, capitalizing on a Cornell turnover near midfield. Johnson and Kassandra Ceja created a 2-on-1 scoring chance, ultimately leading to Johnson chipping her shot into the upper 90.

Cornell had a pair of corner kicks in the 61st and 62nd minutes but could only muster one shot attempt, which came on Gonzalez's header that Schuck saved at the near corner.

The Beach hoped to increase its lead in the 71st minute on a shot attempt by Ceja, but Fox made the save in the low right corner of the goal while taking some contact inside the goal area.

With 25 seconds remaining, Fox came out of the box and tackled a Long Beach State player on a breakaway. After a video review, the officials decided to send Fox off with a red card, much to the dismay of both coaching staffs. Junior goalkeeper Natalie Medugno took over goalkeeping duties for Cornell in the remaining seconds.

MATCH NOTES
• Friday was the first-ever meeting between Cornell and Long Beach State. It was Cornell's third-ever contest against an active member of the Big West, having played Hawai'i on two occasions back in 2003 and 2006. The Big Red is 1-2-0 all-time against active Big West members.

• The match served as Cornell's eighth-ever match played outside of the Eastern time zone and the first since falling to San Francisco, 2-1, at the OUTRIGGER Hotels Soccer Shootout in Waipahu, Hawai'i, on Sept. 16, 2006.

• Of the eight matches played in the Mountain, Pacific, or Hawaii-Aleutian time zones, seven have been decided by one goal or fewer. The only game decided by multiple goals came when Cornell posted a 2-0 triumph over Hawai'i on Sept. 21, 2003.

MATCHES OUTSIDE EASTERN TIME ZONE
Cornell Program History
Oct. 12, 1991, at Stanford — L, 0-1
Oct. 13, 1991, at San Francisco — W, 1-0
Sept. 8, 2000, at Colorado — L, 0-1
Sept. 10, 2000, at Colorado College — L, 0-1
Sept. 21, 2003, at Hawai'i — W, 2-0
Sept. 15, 2006, at Hawai'i — L, 0-1 (OT)
Sept. 16, 2006, vs. San Francisco (at Hawai'i) — L, 1-2
Sept. 20, 2024, at Long Beach State — L, 0-1

• Fox made her first appearance and start since making two saves in the Big Red's season finale against Penn last Oct. 28.

• The red card was Cornell's first since Kala Neilson was booked in the 27th minute of a 1-0 double-overtime loss to Princeton on Oct. 31, 2009. The Big Red had gone 212 straight matches and over 19,728 minutes without receiving a red card.

UP NEXT
On Sunday afternoon, Cornell will conclude its two-match road trip in California when it squares off against No. 19-ranked Pepperdine (5-2-2). First touch between the Big Red and Waves is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET (noon PT). Match action will be broadcast on ESPN+.

Sunday will be the first-ever meeting between Cornell and Pepperdine in women's soccer and any sport on record in Big Red history.

The Waves enter the match as the No. 19-ranked team in the most recent United Soccer Coaches poll, marking the eighth consecutive season that Cornell will be playing a ranked opponent. Last year, Cornell faced No. 14-ranked Princeton and No. 15 Brown, which resulted in 4-2 and 2-1 losses for the Big Red.

Pepperdine is coming off a 5-0 victory against Fresno State on Friday afternoon at Tari Frahm Rokus Field in Malibu, Calif.