The Long Beach City College men's soccer team stepped foot on its home pitch for the first time in 2016 on Friday evening by facing off against Golden West under sunny conditions at Viking Soccer Field. Despite having several chances to break out on top, the Vikings were unable to surpass Golden West's solid defensive unit en route to the scoreless tie.

There was high energy on both ends of the field throughout the entire 90 minutes of play. The Vikings defense was the highlight of the afternoon. Freshman goalkeeper Saul Ocampo (Hawaiian Gardens, CA) was a beast between the posts by making multiple highlight-reel stops en route to five saves. Additionally, his distribution across the pitch was impressive, giving the Vikings multiple chances to effectively counter. 

Sophomore defender Hector Rojo (Bellflower, CA) manned the backline and acted as a thorn in Golden West's side by breaking up potential scoring opportunities and winning numerous free balls. Sophomore defender Irving Alvarado (Bellflower, CA) and freshman defender Aldo Solis (Bellflower, CA) were solid contributors on the defensive end as well.

The offensive efforts were spread out with seven different Vikings firing off one shot each. Freshman forward Ruben Martinez (Norwalk, CA) notched the first shot-on-goal in the 13th minute, but to no prevail. Freshman midfielder Edgar Gonzalez (Long Beach, CA) attempted to bang in a header in the 31st minute, but did so unsuccessfully. Sophomore forward Alredo Garcia (Paramount, CA) capped off the shots-on-goal with a blast in the 63rd minute.

Furthermore, Long Beach committed 10 fewer fouls than Golden West, while holding the corner kick advantage at 6-4. 

Long Beach (0-2-1) will continue play on Tuesday, September 6 by facing off against Orange Coast under the lights at 7 p.m. on the road.