Vikings men’s soccer forward Chayse Owens scores his first goal in conference, leading to a hard fought 2-1 victory over East Los Angeles College on Oct. 6.
The Vikings extended its winning streak to five games, after winning three games and tying one during preseason before conference, with their last loss being nearly a month ago.
“Our conference is very difficult, so we try to get our preseason schedule as difficult as we can so that we prepare for conference,” LBCC Coach Jorge Reyes said about the team’s motivation coming into their conference games.
Significant schedule changes were made to the match beforehand. Initially the game had been set for 4 p.m., but due to extreme heat it was later changed to 10 a.m. and changed once more to 8 a.m.
“(Time) changes sleep patterns, it changes eating patterns, I mean if you’re getting ready for an 8 a.m. game versus a 6 p.m. or 4 p.m. game…sometimes guys don’t even get to eat so you don’t have that fuel to go in there and give 90 minutes of a game,” Reyes, said on the effects of significant schedule changes.
It was a difficult win for the Vikings, heading into halftime with a 1-1 draw after a goal from Vikings forward #7 Christopher Alvarez, as they had to overcome a tough defense.
“I think it’s just a slow startup, I think it begins from our pregame rituals in the stuff we do before the games and just start off with more intensity,” explained Viking forward #3, Chayse Owens, on the team’s performance during the first half of the game.
Despite the slow start, the Vikings managed to pick it back up as Chayse Owens scored his eighth goal of the season in the second half of the game.
“Coach Reyes and Barrios held us responsible for our mistakes, they told us what to do and we had to do it,” Viking defender #22, Alexis Jarquin, said on what pushed them to perform better in the second half of the game.
Throughout the game, there were many issues on field and on the sidelines, with many players and coaches questioning the calls made by referees. The calls caused the game to become heated leading to four yellow cards due to unsporting behavior, three of which were given to LBCC players.
“You can’t blame the game on the refs,” Jarquin said, “But we just play it by ourselves and we gotta do what we gotta do,” he added.
The Vikings made a statement in their first conference game, beating East Los Angeles College, who came into this game with a winning streak of five games, scoring 21 goals and only receiving eight.
“We still got to work on a couple of things,” Reyes said. “It’s never a perfect thing we got going on, but very happy with the guys, they fought you know with all the variables thrown at us.” Reyes added.
Currently, the Vikings stand with six wins, two losses and two ties throughout this season, though they started off conference strong, both coaches and players are looking forward to their next game.
“We got to give some guys rest, it’s hot so today it took a lot of toll on a lot of guys…then El Camino on Friday which has traditionally been one of the top teams in the state. So we’re looking forward to that test,” Reyes said about the team’s future.
The Vikings will play their next conference game against Los Angeles Harbor College on Tuesday Oct. 13 at 4:00 p.m.
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