September 18, 2007

Men’s Soccer:
Vikings get back on track with 5-2 rout over L.A. Mission

The Long Beach City College men’s soccer team got back to its winning ways with its 5-2 non-conference win over visiting Los Angeles Mission College on Tuesday.

Just last Friday, the Vikings were victims of a five-goal outburst by opponent Rio Hondo in their 5-0 loss on the road.

But today, Long Beach got back on track despite trailing early in the contest.

Mission’s Francisco Flores escaped for a goal in the eighth minute to give the Eagles and early 1-0 advantage.

Just moments later in the ninth minute, LBCC sophomore forward Aaron Gutcher tied up the game with his goal off the pass from freshman midfielder Albert Jimenez.

Jimenez scored the second of three straight unanswered goals by the Vikings in the 16th minute. He took a free kick from freshman defender Ernesto Mariscal and nailed it past Mission goalie Irvin Rodriguez for the 2-0 lead.

Sophomore forward Arturo Guizar got in on the scoring assault with his goal from Gutcher in the 35th minute to give Long Beach a 3-1 advantage at halftime.

Mission posted its final score early in the second. Forward Renee Alvarenga beat LBCC freshman goalie Chris DeWalt to cut the Viking lead to 3-2.

But that was as close at Mission would get. Sophomore forward Bruno Contardo scored consecutive goals in the 70th and 78th minute to close out the game and the Vikings’ 5-2 win.

Freshman defender Pedro Naranjo and Guizar picked up the assists on Contardo’s goals.

DeWalt posted 5 saves in goal for Long Beach, while Rodriguez was credited with 10 saves for Mission (1-5-1).

Long Beach improved to 3-1-3 overall with the win. The Vikings return to action next Tuesday (Sep 25) at 4 pm when they open South Coast Conference play at Los Angeles Harbor College.