Men's Soccer: Vikings bounce back with 2-0 win over Pasadena

Long Beach City College evened its South Coast Conference record at 3-3 thanks to a 2-0 win over visiting Pasadena City College on Friday at LBCC. The Vikings, coming off a 2-0 loss at No. 10 nationally-ranked Mt. San Antonio College on Tuesday, improved to 7-5-1 overall.

Long Beach took control of the game early on got on the scoreboard in the 16th minute after an impressive shot by sophomore Joel Atilano (Artesia HS). Off the passes from sophomore Andrew Geber (Palos Verde HS) and freshman Israel Gonzalez (Paramount HS), Atilano took the ball with his back to the goal, turned and fired a laser to the lower-left corner past Lancer goalie Yusuf Elmasri to give LBCC the lead.

Pasadena (1-10-2, 1-4-1 SCC) nearly got the equalizer in the 28th minute when Artin Almary's shot hit the right post. But that was one of the few opportunities for the Lancers. Long Beach outshot PCC by a 14-3 margin and freshman goalkeeper Connor Fatone (Los Alamitos HS) needed to make just one save in the shutout.

In the second half, sophomore Jesse Funes (Kennedy HS) added an insurance goal in the 75th minute off the assist from freshman Bryan Majano (Downey HS).

Long Beach returns to action on Tuesday (Oct. 20) at 4 p.m. when the Vikings travel to East Los Angeles College for a SCC game.