The LBCC women’s soccer team extended their winning streak to six games with a 3-0 win over the El Camino Warriors as the rain poured down in the South Coast Conference Tournament, Championship Semifinals.
The Vikings started the game as they usually do with freshman forward Genesis Lopez using her crafty playmaking down the left wing to create opportunities for her teammates.
A couple of early opportunities presented themselves to the Vikings, but they were unable to capitalize due to El Camino doing a great job of denying the threats of freshman forwards Evelyn Sandoval and Genesis Lopez.
The game started to get physical as the rain stopped momentarily and the two teams grew frustrated with their lack of scoring.
The Warriors were making a concerted effort to not let Lopez and Sandoval cut inside, and this seems to be a common gameplan for teams when they come up against the Vikings.
The chemistry between Lopez and Sandoval is evident on and off the field.
“Genesis and I have been close friends since high school and that definitely translates onto the field. We know each other well enough to be able to read what kind of ball we want played,” said Sandoval..
In the 40th minute, Sandoval was able to cut into El Camino’s box and draw a penalty.
Freshman midfielder Paige Rodriguez was the one to take the penalty kick for the Vikings and the lefty slotted the kick in the bottom left corner to give the Vikings the 1-0 lead and there was a visible sigh of relief as they were finally able to score.
The Vikings used the momentum from Rodriguez’s penalty conversion to gain some more chances at goal in the second half, but could not find the back of the net until Lopez came in clutch as she has all year and headed in the ball off of a corner and over the outstretched arms of the Warriors keeper.
Lopez’s goal gave the Vikings a 2-0 lead and seemingly put the game out of reach for the Warriors considering that the Vikings have shut out nine of their last ten opponents, including every opponent during their current six game winning streak.
The Vikings let loose, attempting to put the dagger in the Warriors with the rain coming down again, but Warriors sophomore keeper Karlee Clark would not let that happen as she made two outstanding saves to keep El Camino in the game.
This was temporary as the ball found freshman midfielder Lluvia Mariscal and she neatly put the ball in the back of the net to give the Vikings the 3-0 lead.
With a huge semi-finals win, the Vikings now move on to the championship game.
When asked about how they are feeling going into the championship game, Vikings head coach Eduardo Nunes said, “We feel really good, I think we are well equipped. This is our opportunity and we haven’t had this opportunity in a long time. A lot of the girls were just being born or not even born yet the last time we had this chance.”
The Vikings play in the South Coast Conference Tournament, Championship Finals on Friday against a team that has yet to be announced.