SBCC had numerous scoring opportunities but could only convert one in a 2-1 men’s soccer loss to San Bernardino Valley on Tuesday at La Playa Stadium. Saul Diaz scored in the 23rd and 59th minutes to give the Wolverines (4-3-1) a 2-0 lead.
SBCC's Danny Rodriguez blasts a shot past a San Bernardino player in the second half of Tuesday's non-conference 2-1 loss.
Diego Diaz Duenas slipped a shot inside the right post after taking a pass from Beville Rose in the 79th minute, cutting the deficit to 2-1. SBCC fell to 0-3-1 after dropping its home opener.
Freshman Guillermo Gonzalez, a former Carpinteria High star, had a near-miss in the 17th minute and another in the 30th when his leaping header went over the goal.
“We need to communicate more,” said Gonzalez. “We’ve had bad chemistry so far. When we get a chance to finish, we’ve been getting nervous and we think about it too much.”
Ricky Placencia, the Vaqueros’ starting goalkeeper on last year’s WSC championship squad, will be out at least another month with a finger injury. On Tuesday, goalie Yonha Adrabi may have suffered a broken hand.
“We created a lot of chances in the first half but we just couldn’t find the back of the net,” said SBCC coach John Sisterson. “We felt if we got a goal back, we could go on and win the game.
“At times in the second half, I felt we stopped working hard. There’s that old saying, ‘Hard work beats talent if talent doesn’t work hard.’ We just didn’t work hard enough in the second half.”
SBCC travels south to take on Rio Hondo on Tuesday in Whittier at 4 p.m.
