Men’s Soccer: Second-half surge isn’t enough as Vikings fall 3-1 to Harbor

The Long Beach City College men's soccer team couldn't overcome a 2-0 halftime deficit and dropped a 3-1 South Coast Conference match to visiting Los Angeles Harbor College on Tuesday.

The loss dropped LBCC to 4-9-3 overall and 2-4-3 in the SCC. Harbor, ranked No. 9 in this week's CCCAA/CCCSIA state poll and No. 13 nationally by the NSCAA, improved to 10-3-3 and 5-2-2 in conference play.

The Seahawks got first-half goals from Frank Quinonez in the 30^th minute and Jesus Fregoso in the 37^th minute.

Trailing 2-0 at the break, the Vikings finally erased the shutout in the 54^th minute. Sophomore defender Kevin Jimenez sent a long pass from midfield towards the Harbor box. Freshman forward Francisco Magana played the ball off the bounce and nailed his shot past Harbor goalie Blessing Ngwa to cut the Seahawks' lead.

Long Beach continued to control the tempo of the second half early and would outshoot Harbor by a 10-8 margin. But the Vikings couldn't finish for the equalizer. Sophomore Jesse Castaneda had a pair of breakaway shot that sailed just wide midway through the second.

Harbor finally put the match away when Fregoso broke free for a goal in the 81^st minute.

Long Beach took 15 shots on the day, but managed just three on goal. Ngwa posted two saves for Harbor while LBCC goalkeeper Jorge Becerra totaled five saves.

LBCC returns to action on Friday (Oct. 26) when it hosts Pasadena City College in a 4 p.m. conference game.

Photo: Andre Martinez dribbles downfield in the loss against Harbor (by Chris Ruiz)