LBSU club soccer team beats UCSB

By Sé J. Reed
Daily Forty-Niner

The Long Beach State men's club soccer team (8-1) took on UC Santa Barbara at home Saturday and pulled out a hard-fought victory, 2-1.

"It was a grudge match," said Coach Sanjit Toor. "This is by far our toughest competition."

This was the second game the 49ers played against UCSB, after having lost the first at Santa Barbara. The two teams are tied for the No. 1 national club ranking.

"This was the game of the season," said team captain Mike Stevens. "We had to win today Ö it was all or nothing."

Most of the players and the coach expressed their distaste for the 49ers' effort during the first part of the game.

"The first half was terrible," Toor said.

However, the 49ers recovered in the second half. In the 55th minute, Tristen Corbet scored a hard-won goal off an assist from No. 21 Steve Thomas, who had a free kick for a foul.

UCSB scored after a free kick in the 64th minute to tie the game. In the 75th minute, Juan Rodriguez recovered the 49er lead with a goal off of an assist from Joey Meza.

Throughout the game, Toor and the players on the sidelines were frustrated with the referee's calls.

"The ref's calls weren't one-sided," Stevens said. "Both teams got tough calls. The ref had a bad game."

Play was halted repeatedly throughout the game and numerous yellow cards were issued to players on both sides.    The tension on the field mounted until a kick at the 49er goalkeeper sparked a small brawl between 49er and UCSB players. UCSB's No. 7 got the only red card of the game as a result.

"It was an ugly win," Stevens said. "But we'll take it."