The Long Beach City College men's soccer team took to its home pitch on Friday afternoon in conference action by taking on El Camino College. The Vikings were infected with the scoring bug on the afternoon as they exploded for five scores due in part to a hat trick from freshman defender Christopher Ribet (Cerritos, CA) leading to a 5-0 rout of El Camino.
Ribet was sensational on the afternoon by dominating the pitch with pure athleticism. After substituting into the contest in the 17th minute, the speedy defender was wuick to give the Vikings an early lead by banging in a score on a breakaway play that was assisted perfectly by freshman forward Ruben Martinez (Norwalk, CA).
In the 34th minute, the Vikings earned a free kick on their side of the pitch with hopes of getting great ball position in the attacking third. Long Beach earn much more than just great ball position, as sophomore defender Hector Rojo (Bellflower, CA) lofted up a pristine pass to the bounding Ribet who promptly finished in the back of the net for his second goal of the first half.
Ribet was not done scoring after the first half, as he continued to haunt the El Camino defense by linking up with sophomore midfielder Hector Solis (Bellflower, CA) for another netter to earn a hat trick on the day.
The Vikings continued to stomp down on the gas pedal by adding two more insurance goals. Freshman midfielder Juan Reyna (Downey, CA) and sophomore forward Alfredo Garcia (Paramount, CA) teamed up for a score in the 66th minute, while Garcia recorded another assist in the 67th minute after locating Martinez for the fifth and final Viking netter of the night.
Freshman goalkeeper Saul Ocampo (Hawaiian Gardens, CA) had a relaxed 90 minutes between the posts by only having to make one save en route to his second win of the season. He remains undefeated at home.
The defensive brigade compiled of freshman Anthony Gonzales (Compton, CA), sophomore Jamie Salazar (Long Beach, CA), and Rojo manned the backline to perfection by allowing a mere shot on goal and minimal pressure.
The Vikings out shot El Camino by a 17-6 margin en route to their largest win on the season.
Long Beach (2-5-2, 1-0-0 SCC) will continue conference action against Cerritos on Tuesday, October 4th on the road at 4 p.m.