The Warriors were leading 2-1 late in the second half and had possession of the ball in their season finale against Long Beach City College.
The Warriors inbounded the ball and found midfielder Matias Henriquez open in the field and he drove the ball and kicked it from the left side into the Vikings net, to put the team up 3-1.
“It was a good finish, they fell asleep and we took advantage of them and we had a quick throw and Matias had a great finish,” coach Andrew Britton said.
Defender Eddie Matei said that “was the nail on the coffin.”
That was one of three second half goals the Warriors had in way to a 4-2 win over LBCC last Thursday in their season finale. The other two goals scored in the second half were by midfielder Magnus Peterson and second half header put in by midfielder Ben Turnbull.
“It was a battle mode goal,” Turnbull said, referring to his header goal.
EC went up 1-0 when Chris Marckstadt had a goal in the first half, his ninth of the season as a Warrior.
“It was a nice goal and coach Britton helped me out this week in practice,” Marckstadt said.
The Warriors played a tough game and supported each other from the beginning to the end.
“It was a pretty solid team effort by everyone, who played and even those who didn’t get to play cheered and supported their teammates,” Britton said. “Overall great team effort.”
EC made an adjustment in its strength and it paid off in a big way against the Vikings.
“We had a game plan and we stuck with the game plan with forward Charlie (Gonzalez) and Chris up front,” Britton said. “Charlie had a great game and played off of Chris with a great team effort up front.”
The Warriors ended their season on a good note with a win against the same Vikings team they lost to 3-1 the first time around at Long Beach.
“It feels great to end with a win, we’ve had an up-and-down season, (but it’s) great to go out on a high note,” Britton said. “We finished tied for fourth in (the South Coast) conference ahead of Harbor College. I’m glad we finished in the top half of the (SCC).”
Henriquez was glad the Warriors ended the season with a win heading into the off-season.
“It felt good to finish the season strong and beat a team we lost to the first time,” Henriquez said.
The team worked hard on correcting things that they’ve struggled with all season long and it paid off in their season finale.
“We worked on defense the last couple of practices, tightening things in the back and we worked on how to defend free kicks from long distance, without fouling,” Britton said. “We put away our chances, which we’ve had trouble doing.”
“I’m proud of how much work and effort they put in and I’m disappointed for them that we couldn’t make playoffs,” Britton said. “We couldn’t get it together every single game and we had a couple of games that we lost focus and it cost us.”
The Warriors ended the season 5-8-7 overall and 4-6-4 in the SCC, tied for fourth place in the conference with Long Beach City College and had 16 points in the SCC. EC averaged 1.6 goals per game and allowed 2.0 goals per game this season.
“The men came a long way from the beginning to the end of the season and if we could replay these games that we lost, I’m sure it will be a different story,” Britton said.
