Juarez Saves 3 PKs to Advance to Semifinals in SCC Tournament

In a game that pitted two teams that tied earlier in the season, as well as in the South Coast Conference league standings, Long Beach City College and Rio Hondo College tied 0-0 in regulation. The game went directly to penalty kicks where the Vikings advanced, on a three to two advantage, onto the semi-finals against conference regular season champions Mt. San Antonio College. 

The game was a tightly contested battle that saw most of the action take place in the middle third of the field. Neither keeper was called upon much during the match as the Vikings goalkeeper Oliver Juarez (Downey H.S.) had two saves in regulation, and the Roadrunners keeper had five. Long Beach did have two excellent scoring opportunities in the first half. The first shot attempt by Cameron Badal (Millikan) that was taken from 20 yards out was headed towards the upper V, if not for the diving save by the keeper. Long Beach's second chance was a bit more controversial, as the Vikings strung together seven passes and found Eddy Mosqueda (Cabrillo) open from six yards out. Mosqueda's first touch set him up beautifully where he then placed the ball in the back of the net. The referee then blew his whistle, and said that there was a foul committed by Long Beach earlier in the play that negated the goal. 

With the game ending in a tie, there needed to be a penalty kick tie-breaker to see who would advance onto the next round. Rio Hondo won the coin toss and elected to go first. Juares made the first of his three penalty saves when he dove to his left and caught the ball. Vikings Brian Chung (Los Alamitos), Jesus Moreno (Millikan), and Jose Ventura (Anaheim) all converted their attempts, giving them the three to two advancement. Diego Albanez (Valley Christian) attempt was not necessary.