Coming off an impressive win on Tuesday over Compton, the Long Beach City College men's soccer team won its second straight, this time knocking off No. 4 nationally-ranked Mt. San Antonio College 1-0 in Walnut on Friday.
Long Beach is now 4-4-4 overall and 2-3-1 in South Coast Conference play. With the win, the Vikings moved up to No. 8 in the Southern California power ratings.
The contest opened with both teams applying equal offensive pressure. But in the 20th minute, the Vikings broke free for the game's only goal.
Freshman defender Jesse Funes (Kennedy HS) started the play by intercepting a pass deep in Long Beach territory. He dribbled down field, connecting with freshman Evair Marin (Cabrillo HS) before sending a final pass to sophomore Erik Carbajal (Lakewood HS). Carbajal finished the drive, nailing a shot from 25 yards out past Mt. SAC goalie Daniil Slepukhin to give the Vikings the lead.
Mt. SAC nearly scored the equalizer in the 34th minute when a Mounties shot hit the cross bar.
Sophomore Jose Garcia (Artesia HS) nearly doubled the LBCC advantage in the second half, but his one-on-one breakaway shot on Slepukhin sailed just wide.
Freshman Daniel DeHaro (Cabrillo HS) totaled five saves in goal for the Vikings to earn his second straight shutout and third overall. Long Beach defenders Funes, sophomore Rafael Arroyo (Poly HS), and freshmen James Pacheco (Mayfair HS) and Kristian Saravia (Downey HS) all played well and contributed to the shutout.
Long Beach returns to action on Tuesday (Oct. 21) when it travels to Pasadena City College for a conference game.
