The defense scored a hat trick on Tuesday night as SBCC topped L.A. Mission 3-1 in a WSC men’s soccer match at La Playa Stadium.
Jelan Hutton, a freshman defender from Santa Barbara High, banged in a header off a free kick by Alex Santana to give the first-place Vaqueros (4-3, 4-1) a 1-0 lead in the 24th minute.
Mission (2-5-1, 2-2) evened it up in the 35th minute on an own goal by the Vaqueros.
Dylan Murphy, a sophomore center back from Australia, put SBCC back on top 2-1 one minute into the second half after a nice high pass from Hutton. Murphy started at forward for the second straight game as coach John Sisterson tried to ignite his offense.
“We’ve been having trouble scoring goals and I’ve played forward in the past, so we thought we’d give it a try,” said Murphy. “That was a great ball from Jelan and the defense was a bit slow to read it.”
Juan Diaz Casallas completed the hat trick for the defense in the 67th minute. The sophomore from Columbia gathered in a long lead pass from Santana and he and the goalie both fell to the turf. Casallas then extended his right leg and booted the ball around the goalie for a 3-1 lead.
It was the first goal of the season for Hutton, Murphy and Casallas. SBCC outshot the Eagles 13-11 and there were plenty of shots on goal with the Vaqueros enjoying a 9-7 advantage.
“They came at us early and pressed us high but we played around them and I thought we were worthy winners at the end,” said Sisterson. “It was a good performance.
“We decided to move Dylan up front because he’s been doing quite well in practice.”
Santa Barbara continues a four-game homestand on Friday against Citrus at 2 p.m.
