The No. 4-seeded Santa Barbara City College men’s soccer team just missed out on a bye to the second round of the SoCal Regionals, a perk given to the field’s top-three teams.
Mark Knight made sure the Vaqueros still got there, scoring the game-winner in the 66th minute for a 1-0 victory over Cuyamaca at La Playa Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
SBCC, which set a school record with its 12th win in a row, was playing without head coach John Sisterson, who was in San Diego coaching the women’s team in a playoff game against San Diego Mesa.
“He’s usually there to give some words of wisdom,” said Knight of Sisterson, who has coached the men’s and women’s team for the past two years without missing a match for either side. “We played for him as he couldn’t be here today. He’ll be with us on Tuesday.”
Knight played the entire game after spending the week off the pitch dealing with illness. Knight and the Vaqueros were slow to get going, finding few scoring opportunities in the first half.
In the second, Kasper Dyg had a goal waived off due to an offsides call, but Knight’s goal followed not long after.
Scott Wells sent a long ball into the corner to the left of the goal. Beville Rose tracked down the ball, attacked the goal and found Knight in the center as soon as the closest Coyote defender committed to the ball. Knight deftly one-touched it with his left foot past a hopeless goalie.
“It’s been a funny week. We have a few injuries, a few knocks,” said acting head coach Paul Hart before running off a variety of ailments affecting several players. “So we’ve been a bit banged up.”
As the No. 4 seed, the Vaqueros await the winner between Santa Ana and Southwestern for another home match in the second round at La Playa Stadium on Tuesday.
