The LBCC Vikings looked sharp on Friday night, but the College of the Desert Roadrunners had an answer for everything the Vikings threw at them in a 3-3 draw.
The Vikings started the game out mostly sitting back and trying to read how the Roadrunners would play the game, taking opportunities to counter when they could.
Toward the 18 minute mark, the Vikings earned a free kick right in front of the left corner stick that led to a goal headed in by freshman forward Diego Albanez.
34 minutes into the game the Roadrunners broke through off of a chipped pass over the Viking defender that found the Roadrunner midfielder who powered it past Viking goalkeeper Ryan Swan.
LBCC gained back the lead when freshman forward Jose Ventura delivered a beautiful free kick that was tipped onto the crossbar by the Roadrunner keeper and made its way to the left foot of sophomore midfielder Leo Sanchez who smashed it into the goal that was occupied by two Roadrunner defenders with the keeper still on the ground from the diving save.
Sanchez, who was subbed in ten minutes before he scored said, “The action doesn’t come right away sometimes, but you just have to keep your head in it, and then when the opportunity came, I took it.”
The Roadrunners came out hot in the second half controlling the possession and tempo of the game while playing from behind. Attempting to hold the 2-1 lead, the Vikings were sitting back withstanding the pressure that the Roadrunners were putting on them, but they could only bend so much until they broke when a great save by Swan unluckily fell to the head of a Roadrunner, who headed it into the net, tying the game at 2.
With the game being tied, the Vikings switched their playstyle and started attacking, which earned them an 82 minute corner, and they capitalized. Freshman defender William Blanco leaped into the air and headed the beautifully delivered corner into the back of the net to retake the lead at 3-2.
This goal was the Vikings’ second set-piece goal of the game and Vikings head coach Jorge Reyes said, “We’ve been working on set-pieces a lot this last week… so I’m proud of the guys for that because it’s literally what we did all week.”
Once again, the Roadrunners did not give up and they had yet another response to a Viking goal when a controversial handball against the Vikings occurred in their own 18-yard box leading to a penalty kick for the Roadrunners in the 84 minute. Vikings keeper Ryan Swan guessed correctly, but it did not matter as the Roadrunner penalty taker smashed it into the bottom left corner, tying the game at 3-3. There were a couple of opportunities for both sides in the last minutes of the game, but the Roadrunner game-tying goal would be the last of a thrilling second half that had all fans in attendance on the edge of their seats.
The Vikings played against LA Mission yesterday afternoon resulting in a 2-2 back to back tie game. Their next match is at San Bernardino Valley on Friday at 6 p.m.