Mehdi Badache scored early in each half on Tuesday night and SBCC erupted for four second-half goals in a 5-0 men’s soccer shutout of Glendale at La Playa Stadium.
Badache, a 6-foot-6 defender from Tunisia who’s been playing forward in recent games, scored in the 11th minute on a nice pass from Kebba Nyang. The Vaqueros (3-6, 2-2 WSC) led 1-0 at halftime.
Five minutes into the second half, Aaron Aaberg lobbed a 24-yard free kick to Badache and he headed it in for a 2-0 lead. Badache thought he had a hat trick in the 74th minute but the goal was erased by offsides.
“Scoring five goals feels really good and I hope we keep doing the same work the rest of the season,” said Badache. “The first goal was a really good pass from Kebba. The second one was the same thing, Aaron did all the work and I just did what the coach asked me to – stay high and play on my height.”
SBCC outshot Glendale 23-9, including 12-6 in shots on goal. The hometown Vaqueros had eight corner kicks and held Glendale (1-6-3, 1-3-1) without a single one.
It was a night of firsts for the Vaqueros as they scored more than two goals for the first time this year and also recorded their first shutout. Goalie Oscar Haard-Thelm made six saves.
It was also the 99th men’s soccer win for head coach John Sisterson, who’s 99-44-19 in his eighth season.
“We played well in the first half and we changed things again, we were playing three up top instead of one,” said Sisterson. “We have enough athleticism on the flanks. Mehdi has made a big difference at center forward. He’s big, he’s athletic, he’s difficult to handle and he closes people down. He played very well on the ball tonight.
“Albi (Skendi) was solid in the back and Napolean (Bergstroem) and Aaron all played well. Kebba did very well getting forward. We’ve been pressing the point of going forward, don’t be frightened, believe in yourselves and go score some goals.”
The Vaqueros scored three times in a five-minute span of the second half to put the game away. Haydn Dickinson scored in the 63rd minute off a corner kick by Aaberg, former Santa Barbara High standout Jonathan Mora found the net a minute later and Efosa Odiase of Japan scored in the 68th minute on an assist from Erik Winnberg of Sweden. Odiase had entered the game just one minute earlier.
The Vaqueros will take on L.A. Mission at the Sepulveda Basin Sports Complex in Van Nuys on Friday at 2 p.m.
