WEB EXCLUSIVE – Long Beach City College’s size and strength beat out the finesse and skill of the PCC men’s soccer team and handed the Lancers their second loss of the season, by a score of 4-3. “They were so much bigger and more physical than us in the second half that we couldn’t keep up,” said Head Coach Cherif Zein of the Vikings who scored three goals to the Lancer’s one in the second half of regulation.
In first half, the Lancer’s had the apparent advantage. PCC scored first when Gilbert Pogosyan headed a throw in from Malcolm Linton into the back net in the fourth minute. Long Beach showed heir resilience one minute later, however, answering with a goal by Manuel Batista.
Linton’s throw in assist would prove to be a characteristic of the Lancer’s offense. Shortly before the end of the first half, Linton threw the ball in, to have Albrik Tahmasian head the toss into the net, putting the Lancer’s up 2-1 going into the half.
Assistant coach Greg Altounian said, “On our narrow field, throw ins are almost better than corner kicks, especially with a guy like Linton. I’ve seen him throw a ball in 40 yards against Mt. SAC.”
Four minutes into the second half, Alex Martinez of the Vikings scored the equalizer and really turned the tempo of the game around.
“I didn’t sub very much during the second half,” said Zein, “They were doing so well and getting good touches that I figured I didn’t need to pull anyone.”
Long Beach would go on the score three unanswered goals in the second half.
In the eighty-seventh minute, Dante Bruno-Lopez scored with a header on a corner from Ivan Nava to keep the Lancer’s hopes alive, but the team would end up falling to 6-2 for the season.
PCC’s next game will be Tuesday, Oct. 7 at 4 p.m. at El Camino-Compton Center.
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