Vikings men’s soccer defeated 2-0 in their second home game

LBCC Vikings men’s soccer lost in their second home game of the season 2-0 to San Bernardino Valley College after the Wolverines scored on two set pieces on Sept. 19.

The teams were evenly matched throughout the first half with neither side being able to put the ball in the back of the net.

Jorge Reyes, the head coach of the Vikings, attributed a lot of their failures offensively to their mentality going into this game.

“Because wins came early last year, I think they feel like they’re gonna come easy this year. I think everybody collectively needs to understand that when wins are not easy in this league, you gotta work to get them,” Reyes said.

The team continued to struggle in the attacking third where they only managed to get one shot on goal.

“We get chances every single game, we have five or six chances, it’s just the final execution, taking a shot on goal that’s killing us right now,” LBCC midfielder Daniel Arreola said.

The Vikings’ underwhelming offense was largely due to the preparation that San Bernardino Valley went through leading up to this match.

After a 4-1 loss to the Vikings last year, San Bernardino Valley made sure to learn from previous games and research how they could break down this LBCC team.

“We knew they were going to be technically sound and going to move the ball well, so what we did was, we told our boys to be patient because they were going to have the ball most of the time and just to find those opportunities,” San Bernardino Valley head coach Beto Politron. 

The coaches for the San Bernardino Valley team did more than just reflect on old games to prepare for this game.

“We went to go watch their game, I know they haven’t had the greatest results in these past games, so we sent one of our coaches and analysed them,” Politron added.

The defense for San Bernardino Valley completely overwhelmed the Vikings offense, particularly throughout the second half. 

^{The Vikings men’s soccer team huddles during a home game against San Bernadino Valley College at the LAC soccer field on Sept. 19. The Vikings lost 2-0. (Regina B G Melchor)}

“I think we had great communication. We were kind of motivated. I kind of led our center mids and forwards, and everybody out there,” said San Bernardino Valley defender Adrian Ayon.

The Vikings drew in their following matches against San Diego City College 1-1 on Sept. 23 and College of the Desert 2-2 on Sept. 26,  The Vikings will play East Los Angeles on Tuesday at ELAC campus.