Burrell’s Late Goal Secures Draw for Warriors in Conference Opener

LONG BEACH, Calif. – With time winding down in the South Coast Conference opener, El Camino College was having a hard time getting any offense going toward the Long Beach side of the field.

With less than three minutes left in the match, ECC finally broke through as Brian Burrell found the back of the net to secure a 1-1 draw for the Warriors against the host Vikings Tuesday afternoon at the LBCC Soccer Field.

Securing a throw-in deep in Vikings territory, the Warriors found success as Misa Serrano's throw found Jason Santana on the near side inside the box. The ECC forward headed the ball backwards and high over the Vikings defense and goalkeeper at the far post, where Burrell was charging and banged in the equalizer in the 88th minute.

Up to that point, the Warriors (4-3-2, 0-0-1) had not registered a single shot in the second half and were trailing by a goal against the Vikings (8-0-1, 0-0-1), who came into conference play having won its first eight matches of the season.

Cesar Amezcua played all 90 minutes in net for the Warriors and finished with four saves including a pair of big stops in the second half to keep the Warriors in striking distance.

After an uneventful first half, the Vikings took the lead early in the second as Anthony Mejia jumped on a loose ball inside the box after a corner kick and beat Amezcua with a low shot to make it 1-0 in the 60th minute.

It stayed that way for 27 minutes until the Burrell's equalizer, which came after the Warriors were able to get more sustained pressure inside the Vikings zone. In the 84th minute, Burrell checked in as a substitution for the first time in the match and made his time count three minutes later to secure the draw and the important point in the standings.

The Warriors return to action on Friday afternoon as they host Cerritos at Murdock Stadium. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m.