Warriors Fight Back For Draw Against Long Beach

TORRANCE, Calif. - After completely dominating the first 25 minutes of the ballgame, El Camino had to rally for a 3-3 draw with Long Beach on Friday afternoon.

The Warriors (6-5-5, 1-1-3) went ahead early 2-0 before the Vikings scored one goal back before halftime.  The Vikings (10-3-3, 2-0-3) scored two early goals in the second half to reverse the lead to 3-2 in their favor before the Warriors were able to find an equalizer.  

The Warriors completely dominated the opening 25 minutes of the first half.  The Warriors struck 1st in the 18th minute when Eduardo Grados crossed a ball from the left to Brian Burrell.  Burrell's had a great touch on the ball before slotting it into the far post to put the Warriors ahead 1-0. The Warriors doubled their lead in the 21st minute off some more beautiful passing.  From the top of the box, Grados passed to a streaking Burrell down the right flank, Burrell was able to cross a perfect ball for Kevin Negrete to head into the net to put the Warriors up 2-0.

The Warriors outshot the Vikings 8-0 in the first 24 minutes and controlled almost all of the possession.  The Vikings got on the board when Carlos Maldonado was able to flick a ball onto Victor Onofre, who curled a shot from outside the 18-yard box into the upper 90 into the net.  

At the half, the Warriors led 2-1.  However, the fortunes were quickly reversed early into the second half.

Victor Onofre scored his second goal of the game for the Vikings in the 50th minute after latching onto a long ball passed from the Vikings half, and Onofre was able to round Brandon Cardenas and tie the game at 2-2.  

The Vikings went ahead a few minutes later on a similar situation.  Carlos Maldonado was able to find a ball near the midfield and dribble past the El Camino defenders and slot it into the right side of the goal to give the Vikings a 3-2 lead.    

The Warriors kept their calm and pushed for the equalizer and finally found it in the 79th minute.  Mason Briggs threw a long ball on a throw-in into the box that bounced off a Viking defender. Negrete was able to control the ball on one touch and slot it into the left side of the goal to tie the game at 3-3.  

Towards the end of the game is when a ton of fouls were called and the play got chippy.  Three yellow cards were issued before the end of the game, and at the end of the game there was a postgame confrontation between both benches.  

Brandon Cardenas started in goal for the Warriors and made 4 saves

The Warriors will look to build on their unbeaten week with a game at LA Harbor on Tuesday, October 30th.  Kick-off is scheduled for 4:00 PM.