What looked to be the winner for LBCC from Adrian Acevedo’s header was dwindled by Compton College scoring in the final minutes to draw 3-3 on Tuesday in the conference season.
Forward Jesus Moreno put the Vikings ahead with his third goal of the conference season and forward Carlos Alves added a second to the scoreline getting his first goal of the season.
The Vikings made back-to-back wins but failed to keep their opponents from scoring in the fourth successive conference game this season.
“It’s always a big topic that we want to have one of those high-scoring games, but we haven’t had a blowout win yet this season but we’re working on it,” said midfielder Leo Sanchez.
Their current record after the draw against Compton in the conference season is 2-2-1.
Vikings’ captain and midfielder Jonathan Grado was out from the squad with a pulled groin but hopefully will be back by the playoffs missing his presence was noticed as the Vikings were showing emotions, arguing at each other, and having minimal work rate in the first half.
“You know what you get from Jonathan which is a lot of work, talks and he’s a leader and we were missing a lot of those things today,” said coach Jorge Reyes on Grado’s absence.
The game started with an abrupt pause as two fans were kicked out of the game for descriptive words used toward the referee who halted the game until they were escorted out.
A great team play by the Vikings saw Moreno finish the shot on the edge of the box into the bottom left of the corner to give LBCC the 1-0 lead.
Minutes after LBCC took the lead, Compton responded scoring from outside the 18-yard box over keeper Ryan Swan to put the scoreline at 1-1 as emotions began running high for the Vikings.
LBCC came close as forward Carlos Alves hit a shot that deflected off a Compton defender missing wide of the post.
The battle of emotions for the Vikings caught up with them in the end as Compton was able to take the lead before halftime from a header.
The second half saw a different LBCC come out as a team with some fight and hard work with Carlos Alves putting the Vikings level at 2-2 with a shot outside of the box with the keeper barely getting his hands to it, but could not keep it out.
Compton was playing defensive and looking for counterattacks in the second half but the Vikings were able to break through and take the lead as defender Adrian Acevedo’s header from a corner put the score at 3-2.
What looked to be a victory for the Vikings who were controlling the ball and creating chances to add to the scoreline disappeared as Compton scored with five minutes left to play after a mistake between the defense and goalkeeper resulted in a tap-in to make it 3-3.
In the last minute, there was one more chance for the Vikings from a free kick but it was a missed chance as midfielder Miguel Arroyo’s header went over the bar.
LBCC in the end drew 3-3 against Compton College in their 5th game of the conference season.
“After a terrible first half like that, the first instinct is to just yell at each other and we did that for a bit but then we realize that the second half it’s a new game and we gotta forget about the first half and do what we can. We came out strong but we slipped up in the end which cost us the win,” said Sanchez.
The Vikings won a game against L.A. Harbor yesterday 5-0 and will play their next game at home on Tuesday against Rio Hondo at 4 p.m.