A goal from outside of the penalty box late in the second half from forward Cesar Garcia Solorzano brought the Vikings to their 2-1 victory over Irvine Valley College in the First round of the Southern California Regionals tournament.
After a goal in the first minute of the match for Irvine, questions began to rise on how prepared was this LBCC team.
“They scored in the first eight seconds of the match, so the boys were still a little loose,” LBCC Head coach Jorge Reyes said.
The Vikings did not let the goal affect the way they would play this game and quickly returned to their normal form.
“We were in the cold, we weren’t ready, but we bounced back and we finished the match well,” LBCC goalkeeper Fabio Ardizzoia said.
Playing from behind has been commonplace this season, but the team has found ways to win despite this.
“As soon as that goal came, we just forgot about it instantly. We kept possession for a majority of the first half and we were just dominating the rest of the game,” Solorzano said.
A goal late in the first half from forward Asael Sales tied the game, making the score at half 1-1.
“It’s gotta be the theme of the season right? We go down and we’ve kind of allowed that to change our momentum, but we are better now,” Reyes said.
The Vikings continued their momentum into the second half, where they scored their second goal of the match, which proved to be the deciding moment of the match.
“We just gotta be locked in from the beginning. The group knows that they’re a good team and we can win against anybody,” Reyes said.
Their next match against top seeded Santa Monica will be the toughest test the team has faced this season.
“It’s a big game. There’s pressure, so we gotta be smart and think a little more defensively,” Solorzano said.
Their next match against Santa Monica will be on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. with the winner moving on to the third round of the tournament.
