The Long Beach City College women's soccer team got first-half goals from freshman Rocio Hernandez and sophomore Paola Alonso (pictured) which was all it needed in a 2-0 non-conference win over visiting Taft College on Friday at LBCC.
The win snapped the Vikings' two-game losing streak and improved their record to 4-2 overall while Taft dropped to 3-5-1.
Hernandez got Long Beach on the board in the 19th minute with a penalty kick goal. Hernandez was going up for a header inside the Taft box, but was taken down by the Cougars' Jillian Del Villar to earn the PK. Her shot was to the left of Taft goalie Angelica Garcia to give the Vikings the early 1-0 lead.
Alonso closed the scoring with an impressive goal in the 23rd minute. After taking a pass from sophomore Brooke Denton, Alonso raced down the left sideline and unleashed a spectacular shot from 20 yards out that landed just inside the right goal post for the score.
The Vikings outshot Taft by an 11-8 margin. Sophomore goalkeeper Jeanette DeAnda totaled five saves in goal for Long Beach to earn her third shutout of the season.
Garcia posted two saves in goal for the Cougars. Former LBCC standout Myisha (Delaney) Cutrona is the current head coach of Taft. She was the 1997 state tournament MVP and led LBCC to its first ever state championship.
The Long Beach women return to action on Tuesday (Sep 25) at 3 pm when they open South Coast Conference play at East Los Angeles College.
Photo by Chris Ruiz