LBFC, Gonzalez Dominant in Bounce-Back Victory over 88Thirty

By Davis Ramage
April 5, 2025

LONG BEACH, Calif. — Long Beach FC bounced back a week after its first loss in the UPSL Premier SoCal North conference and put on an offensive clinic in a dominant 7-1 win over 88Thirty at Cabrillo High School Jaguar Field.

88Thirty refers to the average amount of time a player on the pitch spends without the ball, 88 minutes and 30 seconds, and that felt like the case for the visitors (0-1-4, 1 point) for large portions of the game. LBFC (5-0-1, 15 points) had 57% possession and 14 shots to 88Thirty’s five (three of which came in the final 12 minutes after LBFC emptied its bench and the game became a little ragged).

It was also a big night for attacking midfielder Lucas Gonzalez, who scored a hattrick and added two assists. Martin Velasquez found the net for the second time this season while Spencer Hungerford and team captains Aaron Minkoff and Jerry Showe each scored their first of the season. Michael Mckibbin also had two assists.

• Gonzalez selected as the Legends “Legend of the Match.” See his postgame interview here.

LBFC got off to a blazing start in the fifth minute when Hungerford found himself with space in the box and fed midfielder Lucas Gonzalez who powered home the first goal of the night to give LBFC an early 1-0 lead.

88Thitry was quick to jump on opportunities to counterattack, often started by long balls from goalkeeper Mohdazmi Alnazer, including an opportunity in the 18th minute that required a goalline clearance from Minkoff. 

LBFC struck again when right wingback David Forde crossed a ball into the box that found Mckibbin. He perfectly touched it into the path of Hungerford, who tapped it into the open goal to extend LBFC’s lead to 2-0.

Hungerford, who is close friends with Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne, donned the number 17 in support of KDB’s recent announcement that he will end his legendary 10-year run with the club after the end of the Premier League season.

Hungerford said the assist is probably closer to honoring KDB than the goal was, but, “It was special. I’ve known him for a long time and this game is a special game. It’s nice to honor him.”

Gonzalez added his second goal of the night two minutes into the second half. Swiftly moving to his left and parallel to the 18-yard box, Gonzalez faked multiple times until he found his moment to shoot and buried it just inside the left post, confounding multiple 88Thirty defenders on his way to putting LBFC up 3-0. 

Five minutes later, Mckibbin danced down the left wing with moves that made LBFC head coach Art Callabero throw his hands on his head in awe and found Gonzalez inside the 18-yard box to complete his hat trick inside 53 minutes.

“I feel really really good about the team, about our performance tonight and about our position in the league,” Gonzalez said. “Hopefully we can use this win to carry some momentum into our next game.”

The longball approach from 88Thirty was not working in the second half the same it did in the first as they struggled to get opportunities of any promise.

Martin Velasquez added a fifth for LBFC when he grounded a long shot from outside the box that somehow found its way through Alnazer’s body in the 65th minute. 

Gonzalez lofted a looping left-footed corner from the right corner flag that felt like it was in the air forever and found an unmarked Minkoff at the back post, who headed it back across goal into the side netting to make it 6-0 in favor of LBFC. 

LBFC was out there having fun and put centerback Jerry Showe up top. Midfielder Connor Barra dribbled down the left wing and found Showe in the middle of the box, where he took a quick touch and tucked it into the right side netting with his left foot to make it 7-0. 

88Thirty ruined the shutout when it converted a penalty in the 83rd minute. 

LBFC takes on Rose City FC next weekend at 8 p.m. on Saturday, April 12 in Arcadia while seeking sixth win of the season. 

#ForTheLBC