By Dan Minkoff
May 3, 2025
LONG BEACH, Calif. — New and old combined in a complete team performance for Long Beach FC, which picked up where it left off after a two-week break in UPSL Premier. Mike Mckibbin and Lucas Gonzalez each scored in the first half and newcomer Jakob Singh deflected an attempted clearance in the second half to give LBFC a 3-1 home victory over Santa Ana Winds.
Mckibbin scored for the second consecutive game after taking a pass from Gonzalez to put LBFC up 1-0 five minutes into the game. It was the third goal of the season for Mckibbin, who also defended well, often forcing Santa Ana to pass backwards or into turnovers.
“Mikey and Lucas have a really good partnership,” said Long Beach coach Art Caballero. “They each do a little bit of everything up there.”
LBFC, which was coming off a bye week and a break for Easter weekend, improved to 7-0-1 with 21 points to remain tied for first with Coachella FC in the SoCal North conference. Santa Ana dropped to 2-2-5 with 8 points. Coachella holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over LBFC.
“We’ve got things figured out now,” Mckibbin said. “It’s like a routine. Have a good practice and go into the game confident like we’ve been doing.”
That routine included another solid performance by goalkeeper Alan Solorio, who saved a penalty kick in the 13th minute that could have tied the game, 1-1. It also included Gonzalez’s seventh goal in six games with the club and stout team defense that limited the Winds to three quality scoring chances.
Singh, who just became eligible after the college soccer season ended, helped create Gonzalez’s goal when he forced the Santa Ana goalkeeper into a poor clearance. Singh’s defense also led to his goal, when he pressured a defender into an attempted clearance that deflected off his back and into the net.
“I don’t think any of us have any doubt that we’re going to keep winning,” Mckibbin said. “We just have to take care of business.”
The LA Breakers FC Long Beach 2017 Red team got the evening off to a great start, joining the LBFC players during the walkout and also played on the field during halftime.
● Watch highlights of the Breakers’ evening here.
LBFC’s next match is on the road against Ocelot Academy at 7 p.m. on Sunday, May 11 at Colton High School. After that, Long Beach returns home at 7p.m. on Saturday, May 17 to take on Inland Empire FC at Cabrillo High School Jaguar Stadium. Tickets for all home games, including a season Shorepass can be purchased online or at the gate. The full schedule and past results can be found here.
#ForTheLBC
https://longbeachfootballclub.com