Long Beach City College lost 2-0 against Cypress as Itzel Ramirez and Celine Gehrig scored the only two goals of the game.
With this loss, the Vikings are no longer undefeated and their state championship quest has now come to an end as they are eliminated from the playoffs.
“It’s tough to get our first loss in the playoffs because you don’t get a second chance, you get knocked out. But it doesn’t define the season,” LBCC head coach Eduardo Nunes said. “We had a great season, we had a great team, and we had a lot of great experiences. There’s just so much more that happened throughout the season that’s gonna last longer than this feeling.”
Nothing was going LBCC’s way on offense in this game, as all of its 6 shots on goal could not make their way into the net as Cypress goalkeeper Sofia Lopez saved all 6.
As for Cypress, its first goal came in the 39th minute in the first half as midfielder Ramirez put the ball into the net with an assist from forward Carisisa Raygoza.
Cypress’s second goal came in the 65th minute as midfielder Gehrig got an unassisted goal to put the dagger in the game.
One aspect of this game that was nearly the same for both teams was penalties, with LBCC having 13 and Cypress having 10.
LBCC’s penalties turned out to be more crucial, as many of their penalties came at the worst possible moments.
Some were near the goal and some that resulted in yellow cards for midfielder Melanie Guerrero and midfielder Sydney Trump.
As the whistles sounded to end the game, many LBCC players were in tears as they were now knocked out of the playoffs.
“I’m so proud of all the girls and they’re all sisters to me and I’m just so proud of everybody. Get onto the field and be close to your teammates because being close off the field helps being close on the field and giving it 110% every game,” LBCC midfielder Paige Rodgriguez tearfully said after the game.
Rodriguez was a huge part of this team as both a leader and a player, as she scored the third-most goals on the team with 10 and the second-most assists with eight behind forward Hannah Marshall’s 10.
When asked what his final message to his team was, Eduardo Nunes spoke from the bottom of his heart with joy.
“Thank you for picking Long Beach, thank you for trusting me, and thank you for taking me on this ride. This is a lot of fun, you can’t have those highs without the lows. They’re awesome, great kids and I love that they gave me that opportunity,” Nunes stated.
Nunes and the Vikings will look to get even better next season as it begins in the Fall of 2024.