Men’s Soccer: Harty scores twice as No. 12 Vikings upset No. 5 ELAC

Long Beach City College freshman forward Tim Harty (pictured) scored a pair of goals to help lead the No. 12-seeded Vikings to a 3-2 opening-round Southern California Regionals Playoff win over No. 5 East Los Angeles College on Saturday night.

With the win, Long Beach (8-7-6 overall) advances to Round 2 where it will travel to face No. 4 Oxnard College on Tuesday (Nov. 22) at 2 pm.

On Saturday, the Vikings had to come from behind in the second half and then hold on to the lead in added time.

Trailing 1-0 at halftime, Long Beach scored the equalizer in the second when freshman Cesar Ruvalcaba bent a free kick off the post and in the goal.

LBCC jumped ahead on Harty's first score. Sophomore Adrian Garcia sent a long pass in front of the net to Harty. He outjumped three defenders and put a shot on goal. ELAC goalkeeper Juan Escobar was able to knock it down, but Harty followed his shot and put the rebound back in to give Long Beach a 2-1 lead.

Harty added a crucial insurance goal when he volleyed in a deep throw in from freshman Jessie Hernandez to give the Vikings a 3-1 advantage.

The Huskies wouldn't go down easy as they got within one after a goal with just seven minutes left in the game. But the LBCC defense held tough, even with seven minutes of added time to the contest.

Oxnard was a 1-0 winner over No. 13 Allan Hancock College on Saturday. The Condors improved to 14-1-6 overall this season and are unbeaten in their last 17 games.

The winner between Long Beach and Oxnard advances to face either No. 1 Mt. San Antonio College or No. 8 San Diego City College in a Round 3 SoCal Playoff game on November 26.