Women’s Soccer: Long Beach earns 2-2 draw in home opener vs. San Bernardino

The Long Beach City College women's soccer team played to a 2-2 non-conference draw with visiting San Bernardino Valley College in the Vikings' 2010 home opener on Tuesday.

The tie moved Long Beach's record to 2-2-2 while San Bernardino Valley kept its unbeaten record intact at 5-0-3 overall.

San Bernardino played an aggressive first half and controlled the ball in LBCC territory for the majority of the opening 45 minutes.

LBCC sophomore goalie Sara Thatcher had a busy first half. In the 27th minute, she stopped a point-blank one-on-one shot from Valley's Ruby Leon to keep the game scoreless.

SBVC finally broke through in the 40th minute. Evelyn Calderon sent a long high pass down the middle of the field. A LBCC defender misplayed the ball and Mariela Ortega nailed the open shot to put the Wolverines up 1-0 just before halftime.

But different half, different game for the Vikings. Long Beach came out the aggressors in the second and put the pressure on the San Bernardino defense.

Long Beach finally tied up the game in the 50th minute. Sophomore Lauren Ingram sent a cross pass from the right side to freshman Denise Martinez. She slipped the ball past SBVC goalie Bianca Contreras to even the score at 1-1

The Vikings continued their pressure which frustrated the San Bernardino defense. Just minutes after the goal,  SBVC's Angela Young was issued a red card in the 58th minute for taking a punch at a LBCC player.

With San Bernardino playing with just 10 on the field, Long Beach took advantage. A foul was called inside the SBVC box and the Vikings were awarded a penalty kick.

LBCC converted as Ingram sent her shot to the lower right corner past a diving Contreras to give the Vikings a 2-1 lead.

Despite their disadvantage, the Wolverines continued to play tough and it paid off in the 83rd minute. Araceli Sanchez scored the equalizer goal off a pass from Calderon for the final score of the contest.

Thatcher posted nine saves in goal for the Vikings.

Long Beach returns to action on Friday (Sept 24) when it hosts Los Angeles Pierce College in a 3 p.m. non-conference game.