After leading for 89 minutes on Thursday night, SBCC was called for a penalty in the box in the 90th minute and Santa Monica converted the PK to earn a 1-1 tie.
Alessandro Canale, the second-leading scorer in Southern Cal, beat SBCC keeper Ismael Guzman to the lower left for his 20th goal in the WSC men‘s soccer match.
The last-minute goal spoiled what may have been the fastest goal in Vaquero history. Justin Saul took the opening kickoff, dribbled up the right side and crossed the ball to Chijioke Aranotu, who headed it in the top shelf for a 1-0 lead just 15 seconds into the contest.
SBCC is 9-6-4 overall and 7-4-4 in conference. Santa Monica, which restarted its soccer program this year, is 8-6-4 and 4-6-4.
“We played well defensively and you hate to see the game end like that,” said Aranotu, who has six goals on the year. “It was an awful call. You hate to see that so late in the game. We don’t know how this will affect us for the playoffs.”
The Vaqueros are vying for one of 16 berths in the Southern Cal Regional. They started the night ranked 14th in Southern Cal and remained in that spot after the tie.
Santa Monica edged the Vaqueros in shots (17-16) and shots on goal (9-6). Guzman had seven saves, including a diving save of a hard shot by Canale in the 60th minute.
“No, that was most definitely not a penalty kick in the 90th minute,” said Vaquero coach John Sisterson. “I don’t want to say the boy dived but he certainly wasn’t touched by one of our players. And the linesman on that side kept his flag down. The referee was yards behind and I don’t think he had a clear view.”
SBCC had several scoring chances with Saul booting a 26-yard free kick just high in the 29th minute, Aranotu barely missing a shot in the 57th minute and Jamie Sporcic lifting a ball high over the bar in a 1-on-1 situation with the keeper.
“I feel sorry for our players who worked so hard for 90 minutes,” added Sisterson. “And then to be let down by what I feel is a poor decision. It’s unfortunate.”
The Vaqueros have one game left in the regular season — Tuesday at Moorpark with kickoff at 3 p.m.
