In the first round of the Southern California Regional playoffs, LBCC battled Rio Hondo to a 1-1 tie, and then pulled away in a penalty kick shootout, winning 4-3 to advance to the second round.  The game is officially recorded as a 1-1 draw with the No. 7 seed Vikings advancing on penalty kicks.

No. 9 seed Rio Hondo got on the scoreboard first in the 65^th minute on a goal by Alan Ponce.  But the Vikings evened the score on a goal from freshman Manny Batista off a throw-in from freshman Glen O’Gara.  The game remained scoreless for the rest of regulation and two overtime periods sending the playoff match to the penalty kick shootout.

For the shootout, LBCC coaches Cameron Beaulac and Pat Noyes elected to replace LBCC goalkeeper Chris DeWalt with forward Oumarou Idrissa and the decision paid off. Idrissa stopped two Rio Hondo PK attempts and the Vikings made good on their four tries to advance.

Long Beach (16-4-5) will travel to face No. 1 Mt. San Antonio College on Tuesday in Round 2 of the SoCal Regionals.