SBCC erupted for three goals in the first 15 minutes on Friday night and claimed its second straight Western State Conference men’s soccer title with a 4-0 shutout of Hancock.
Stuart Kirk scored twice in the first 11 minutes for the Vaqueros (9-6-5, 9-1-4) and Lee Jackson added a goal four minutes later to make it 3-0.
“We wanted the win, we didn’t want a joint championship (with Canyons),” said Kirk. “We knew if we scored early, it would crush their confidence.”
Peter Aguilar, a former Santa Barbara High star, took a pass about seven yards out in the 50th minute, turned and blasted the ball into the upper left corner to make it 4-0. It was the seventh shutout of the year for freshman goalie Ismael Guzman.
The Vaqueros are 22-2-4 in WSC play over the last two years.
“We changed things around, pushing Lee (a defender) higher and that worked,” said coach John Sisterson, who didn’t arrive until the second half because he was coaching the Vaquero women down at Ventura. “We felt we had to get ahead of them early and go forward. It feels great to win the title again, I’m delighted for the players.
“It’s nice to win one but when you win the second one after starting out slowly (0-5-1 in nonconference), it just proves what a good squad we have.”
The Southern Cal Regional pairings will be announced Monday. SBCC is currently ranked eighth in Southern Cal and the top eight teams will get home dates in the first round on Nov. 21.
