Canyons scored in the 15th and 55th minutes Tuesday night and did something no opponent has done in 10 weeks by shutting out SBCC 2-0 in a WSC men’s soccer match at La Playa Stadium.
It was only the second loss for the Vaqueros (15-2-2, 10-1-2) and the first in conference play. Oxnard (11-1-1) beat Hancock on Friday and moved into first place, two points ahead of Santa Barbara with one game to play.
There was a confluence of factors that played against the Vaqueros — playmaker Kalum Horne missed the match due to five yellow cards and Pierre Mattsson, their top scorer with seven goals and four assists, hurt his foot in the first half and never returned.
“There was a lack of quality tonight,” said coach John Sisterson. “We didn’t train well (on Monday) and we lost Pierre in the first half. All in all, I thought they wanted it more and worked hard for the win.”
The fourth-place Cougars (12-5-2, 8-3-2) handed SBCC its first home loss of the season (9-1-1) .
“It was one of those days in sports — you have good days and you have awful days,” said freshman midfielder Nikolai Littleton. “We didn’t have Kalum in the lineup and losing Pierre was a huge blow. He’s definitely the heart and soul of this team.”
SBCC finishes the regular season on Friday with a 1 p.m. game at Hancock in Santa Maria and the Vaqueros could still win their third straight WSC title with a victory and a loss by Oxnard. The Condors host Canyons at 3 p.m.
