The Long Beach City College men's soccer team will head to the postseason on a winning note after defeating visiting Pasadena City College 2-1 in its final South Coast Conference game of the season on Friday.
The Vikings are 8-5-7 overall after securing a fourth-place conference finish at 6-4-4. According to LBCC head coach Cameron Beaulac, the Vikings have a good shot at hosting a first-round Southern California Regional Playoff game on November 22. Seedings and playoff matchups will be announced early next week.
On Friday, the Vikings dominated the first half as Long Beach made its way through the Pasadena defense thanks to some impressive ball control and passing.
Sophomore Jose Garcia (Artesia HS) got Long Beach on the scoreboard first thanks to some impressive play by freshman Osvaldo Yanez (Los Alamitos HS). Yanez broke up a PCC pass at midfield and stole the ball from a pair of Lancer defenders. Yanez then fed Garcia with a perfect cross-pass from the left side that he was able to place past Pasadena goalkeeper David Orellana to give Long Beach a 1-0 lead in the 21st minute.
Yanez got in on the scoring in the 30th minute with a breakaway goal of his own off the pass from freshman Evair Marin (Cabrillo HS) to extend the LBCC lead to 2-0.
Down by two goals at halftime, Pasadena wasted little time getting back into the game as Edgar Menendez scored in the 47th minute off the assist from Victor Menchaca. That seemed to wake the Lancers' offense as Pasadena went on to outshoot Long Beach 11-5 in the second half.
But LBCC goalkeeper Daniel DeHaro (Cabrillo HS) was up the challenge. The freshman had three of his five saves in the second half to help secure the Vikings' victory.
Long Beach will be making its second consecutive postseason appearance. Under Beaulac, the Vikings have reached the playoffs in eight of the last 11 seasons.
