SBCC struck first on a goal by Kebba Nyang in the fifth minute on Friday night but Taft responded with four unanswered goals and went on to post a 4-1 men’s soccer win in a nonconference game at La Playa Stadium.
Nyang, a freshman midfielder from Sweden, stole a pass and blasted an 18-yard shot into the upper left corner for a quick 1-0 lead. The Cougars (2-0) evened things up on a goal by Diego Casillas in the 11th minute and Ramon Chavez gave the visitors a 2-1 halftime edge with a score in the 33rd minute.
“Kebba got us off to a great start and if we could have gotten a second one then, the game might have been over,” said ninth-year coach John Sisterson. “We put pressure on them but we let them back in the game with errors. They punished our errors and we didn’t punish theirs.”
Santa Barbara (0-2) had the advantage in shots (14-10) but the Cougars had seven shots on goal compared to three for the Vaqueros.
“I saw a great improvement from our first game (a 3-0 loss at L.A. Harbor),” Sisterson stated. “Three goals didn’t reflect the difference in the teams. Although I don’t like the scoreline, I do like that we’re improving.”
Taft got its third goal in the 66th minute when an SBCC player inadvertently headed the ball to Taft’s Aldahir Perez and he scored from close range. Three minutes later, Casillas got his second goal.
The Vaqueros travel to Chaffey on Friday for a 4 p.m. contest.
