On Friday, the LBCC Vikings battled their way to a 3-2 victory over the Fullerton College Hornets.
Fullerton started the game off hot with a corner and a free kick from a dangerous area all in the first two minutes. In the fourth minute, they got the first scoring opportunity of the game from a rebound off of a free kick that bounced off of the crossbar.
The goal was ruled offsides, leaving the score at 0-0.
Freshman forward, Evelyn Sandoval, broke the ice for the Vikings in the 26 minute when she perfectly placed a left-footed shot over the head of the Fullerton goalkeeper and into the back of the net.
“It felt pretty rewarding. After playing the whole game in the heat it was nice to come out on top,” Sandoval said when describing how it felt to score.
The score at the end of the first-half was 1-0 in favor of the Vikings after they held possession of the ball for the majority of the first 45 minutes.
When asked if dominating on ball possession is part of their game plan going into each game, Vikings head coach Eduardo Nunes said, “It is. I think the heat got to us though. Although we controlled the game, we were off a step.”
However, the beginning of the second-half belonged to Fullerton. They had some promising chances on counter-attacks and a free-kick opportunity that was guided just over the bar in the 59 minute.
Fullerton got their first goal of the night two minutes later as Izabelle Garcia struck a curling ball from outside of the 18-yard box and placed it in the top right corner.
Freshman Lluvia Mariscal put the Vikings back on top in the 72 minute making the score 2-1.
Fullerton was not ready to give up, in the 83rd minute, the Hornets constructed a set-piece that ended up finding the head of Auburn Burnett and tied the game at 2-2.
Less than a minute later, Sandoval would find herself with an open net to shoot at, scoring her second goal of the night and putting the nail in the coffin.
“We have a lot of players that come from very competitive clubs, very competitive schools, and they’ve played at a high level so they don’t get rattled,” said Coach Nunes.
The Vikings’ next game is September 9th at 2 p.m. at home vs. Miramar.