November 22, 2008

Men’s Soccer:
Vikings win penalty kick shootout to advance to Round 2 of Southern California Regionals

The Long Beach City College men’s soccer team will move on in the Southern California Regional playoffs following a penalty kick shootout win over visiting Rio Hondo College on Saturday at LBCC.

The game is officially recorded as a 1-1 draw with the No. 7 seed Vikings advancing 4-3 on penalty kicks.

No. 9 seed Rio Hondo got on the scoreboard first in the 65th minute on a goal by Alan Ponce.

But the Vikings even the score on a goal from freshman Manny Batista off a throw-in from freshman Glen O’Gara.

The game remained scoreless for the rest of regulation and two overtime periods sending the playoff match to the penalty kick shootout.

For the shootout, LBCC coaches Cameron Beaulac and Pat Noyes elected to replace LBCC goalkeeper Chris DeWalt with forward Oumarou Idrissa and the decision paid off. Idrissa stopped two Rio Hondo PK attempts and the Vikings made good on their four tries to advance.

Long Beach (16-4-5) will travel to face No. 1 Mt. San Antonio College on Tuesday in Round 2 of the SoCal Regionals.