In the crosstown rivalry, LBCC’s men’s soccer team defeated Cerritos 3-1 with a hat trick from forward Jose Mariscal on November 30th to advance to the state championship semifinals.
The team is now moving on to the 3C2A state championship semi-finals in Sacramento, with hopes to win their first ever state title.
The Vikings started off rough in the first half where they failed to score and ended up conceding a goal before the half.
Forward Jose Mariscal scored shortly after during the 40th minute tying the game to end the half
This game wasn’t nearly as filled with yellow cards as the last as LBCC didn’t receive any penalties and kept their calm.
Goalkeeper Abraham Ramirez had multiple crucial saves this game including one in the last 3 minutes of the game.
“This game was a rivalry so this felt really good for us. They have a great team but at the end of the day I felt like this was our time and our turn to shine. I couldn’t let them score and try to put us out of the race for state,” Ramirez said.
Long Beach advances to the State Championship game after a win against Cerritos on Nov. 30 2024. (Brianna Apodaca)
Going into the second half, Cerritos had already received 4 penalties while LBCC stayed out of foul trouble.
Mariscal gave LBCC the lead 2-1 with thirty minutes still left to play.
Cerritos player Gustavo Arias received a red card and further frustrated Cerritos.
Mariscal completed his hat trick with another goal to extend the lead to 3-1.
Forward David Huerta spoke on the mindset that the team had during the game and how they kept playing relaxed.
“We saw that it was going to be a tense game and it would be tough but we just kept our minds on the fact that we will make it to state and that we just gotta do our best and don’t let anything discourage us,” Huerta said.
Head Coach Jorge Reyes said he felt relief and he was proud of his team for how far they have come.
“Cerritos is an amazing team and they are battle tested and this is our boys’ first time in school history (being in this position) and I’m just glad that they persevered and did their best out there and they came out with the win,” Reyes said.
LBCC will play against Butte College on Friday in the 3C2A semifinal at American River College.