Seeking a victory was crucial for both teams as the women’s soccer playoffs are around the corner.

The away squad tied the score with ten minutes remaining in the match. The scoreboard was even at 2-2 on Friday.

Freshman midfielder Miranda Ramirez took matters into her own hands as she dribbled from midfield taking on all the defenders alone, stopped just outside the penalty box, and fired a deadly shot past the goalie. El Camino (4-4-2 in conference) led Long Beach City College (4-3-3 in conference) 3-2.

The Vikings became frustrated with each other after giving up the late goal. Ramirez’s goal was followed by two more, one of which was Long Beach scoring on themselves due to an error. El Camino took advantage of the opportunities and won the game with a final score of 5-2.

“After we scored, a defender yelled, ‘why didn’t you guard her,'” sophomore midfielder Rocio Najero said.”They were mad at each other because we took control of the game.”

In the past encounter, the Vikings came out victorious with a final score of 2-1 over EC on Oct. 6. Both teams have a similar record and need to win the remaining games in order to advance to playoffs.

“Our overall best performance this season was on Friday,” Coach John Britton said. “They played as a team and came out with the W. After we were up 3-2, Long Beach pushed up and left the back open. We were going for the win.”

The next four games will be tough for El Camino. They tied L.A. Harbor (2-6-2) and East L.A. College (6-1-3) their last matches, and lost to Cerritos College (9-0-1) and Mt. San Antonio (4-5-1).

All season long EC has struggled putting the ball past the net, executing easy opportunities, and taking advantage of opposing defenders’ mistakes.

“We always have the mentality that we can win,” sophomore defender Ashley Mercado said. “Now that everyone is finally playing well together, I feel the final four games will be in our favor. Fridays game proved that.”

The Warriors’ next game is away on Tuesday at East Los Angeles College. Kickoff is 3 p.m.