LONG BEACH – Eduardo Nunes remembers watching the Long Beach City College women's soccer team from the sidelines as a spectator back in 2005, the last time the Vikings captured a conference title.
Fast forward 17 years to 2022. Nunes, now in his fourth season as head coach of the Vikings, has led LBCC back to the top and a South Coast Conference South Division championship.
"It's a very special feeling and I'm extremely grateful," said Nunes on this year's success and division title.
Long Beach improved to 6-1 in SCC play with its 2-0 win over visiting Rio Hondo College on Tuesday. Evelyn Sandoval (10th minute) and Genesis Lopez (88th minute) scored while Vivian Toomey totaled 2 saves in goal to lead the Vikings to the victory.
LBCC is 12-2-2 overall with two games left in the regular season. After conference games against Pasadena City and LA City, the Vikings will compete in the South Coast Conference Tournament that gets underway on Nov. 4.
That is followed by the Southern California Regional Playoffs and a possible trip to the State Championships.
Nunes believes his team is ready to make a big run in the postseason.
"Although this team is very young and loaded with freshman, they are used to high level competition," he said. "The other part of the formula is that the team is deeper than it's ever been since I've coached them. It's allowed us to stay healthy longer and when injuries have come up, we've had players step up."
The 2022 Vikings will look to repeat another accomplishment of the 2005 squad – a state title.