It wasn’t exactly a home game on Friday evening but SBCC made itself at home in a 4-1 men’s soccer victory over College of the Sequoias. The Vaqueros opened the season on the synthetic turf at Girsh Park in Goleta due to work on the track at La Playa Stadium.
Nikolai Littleton and Jean-Carlo Guzman both had a goal and assist for the Vaqueros. Freshman Justin Saul notched the first goal on a blast to the upper right after an assist from Guzman in the 20th minute. Sequoias had an own goal late in the first half to give SBCC a 2-0 lead.
“We went out with full pressure and broke down the defense,” said Guzman, a 6-2 forward from Dos Pueblos High who’s one of five sophomores on the team. “We have a lot of talent on this team. It should be a successful year.”
Sequoias cut the margin to 2-1 in the 49th minute. The Vaqueros struck back a minute later when Rodrigo Perez headed the ball to Littleton, who headed it into the net.
In the 75th minute, Littleton made a run up the left side and dropped the ball back to Guzman, who did a 180-degree spin and beat the keeper up top, stretching the lead to 4-1.
“I didn’t really think about it,” Guzman said. “I just did a turnaround and hit the target.”
SBCC dominated play for most of the game.
“The boys were a little bit nervous before the game because we have a lot of freshmen out there,” said Sisterson. “But they did us proud. They stepped up and played like men.
“I thought Pierre (Mattsson of Sweden) did a great job at midfield in his first game for the college and freshman Diego (Diaz-Duenas), who’s really a forward, slotted in at left back and did a tremendous job as well.”
The Vaqueros return to action on Tuesday at Santa Ana.
