The match had just begun when a thunderbolt strike from San Bernardino shocked the Warriors. The momentum was clearly in EC’s favor and to be down so early seemed an injustice. With their undefeated record on the line the men’s soccer team responded with a 2-1 come-from-behind win last Friday.

Two goals from freshman forward Carlos Perez were enough to clinch the victory for EC.

“(Perez) reaped the rewards for his effort,” coach John Britton said. “He can either play at the back, as a defensive midfielder and obviously play as a forward and do a good job so he’s a very good utility player.”

The Warriors dominated the game from the start of the game. However, the momentum would soon shift in EC’s favor again when a cross from freshman midfielder Isaac Lopez leveled the scoreline.

“The defender deflected it into my path of my run so it came out right in front of me,” Lopez said. “I saw that Carlos was on the top so I chipped over the keeper to him and it was an easy goal.”

The timing of the second goal was crucial heading into halftime and Garett Bucheli said it didn’t extinguish the EC’s momentum to keep attacking in the second half.

“We were concentrating on protecting the victory but it still didn’t stop us from going at them. We were still hungry for another, unfortunately it didn’t come but we were able to protect the lead,” Garett added.

San Bernardino sought the equalizer in the dying minutes providing a tense finale to the game.

EC’s next game will be at home on Friday against conference rivals East Los Angeles College (3-2-2).