Long Beach City College midfielder Joshua Grado scored after dribbling through four defenders to help bring the Vikings to their 4-1 victory against Pasadena Community College on Tuesday.
The impressive solo play from Grado got the scoring started early for Long Beach and set the tone for the rest of the match.
“We’re finally getting to the final phase and getting guys in the right spot, guys are listening a little bit more as well,” Viking head coach Jorge Reyes said.
After the quick start, the team’s offense slowed down, allowing Pasadena to get the game tied at the half.
Going into the second half, it was clear that this team was going to need a change of pace and aggression to keep up with this Pasadena team whose confidence was only continuing to grow as the game went on.
“I think we were able to click after halftime, our coach was talking to us and we had a serious conversation, he knew we had to step up in the field so we followed his plan and were able to execute it,” LBCC midfielder Aaron Hernandez said.
Long Beach City College Viking midfielder Julian Zarate winds up a kick that went past Pasadena City College’s goalie to score the fourth goal of the game. LBCC soccer field. Long Beach City College beat Pasadena 4-1 on Tuesday at the LBCC soccer field. (Jacyn King)
The Vikings seemed to come out as a whole new squad in the second half, putting up two goals early, the first of which being a set piece that was headed in by Andrew Zavallos.
“We work on set pieces all the time, the fact that they don’t go in is one thing, but at least twice a week at practice we are heavy on set pieces,” Reyes said.
The second and third goals of the half solidified what was a dominant win for the team, bringing their overall record to 8-5-3.
“I think it was just the energy coming into the second half compared to the first half, we needed some sort of pep talk that our coach put in our head,” defender Andrew Zevallos said.
With the playoffs rapidly approaching, wins like this against solid teams are crucial for building confidence in the squad.
“I feel extremely confident, we have a great group of guys, everybody is a hard worker, and without them I don’t think the team is where it is today,” Hernandez said.
The Vikings most recent game was against Mt. San Antonio where the game ended tied at two and their regular season will end on Tuesday at Rio Hondo.
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