Maria Solis scored SBCC’s second goal on Friday. (Presidio Sports Photo)
SBCC scored twice in the first 21 minutes on Friday and went on to beat San Diego Mesa 3-1 in its women’s soccer home debut at La Playa Stadium.
The Vaqueros remained perfect at 4-0 and the Olympians fell to 0-3. SBCC is unbeaten in its last 20 games (16-0-4) and has a 13-game unbeaten streak (12-0-1) at home, dating back to November of 2013. The Vaqueros are No. 16 in the nation in the National Soccer Coaches Association poll.
Baylee Vincent scored for the second straight game and assisted on the first goal with a corner kick. She found Andrea Skjold about 10 yards in front of the goal and Skjold ripped a left-footed shot past the keeper for a 1-0 lead at the 12:30 mark.
With the brand-new video scoreboard showing 20:20, Maria Solis pulled off a smooth give-and-go with former Dos Pueblos High teammate Steph Romero and made it 2-0 by punching the ball into the right side.
“Sarah (Jimenez) passed it to me and I saw the opportunity to find Stephanie,” said Solis, a freshman midfielder. “She laid a perfect ball into the box and I just had to touch it in. We did OK today. We had a lot of opportunities to score.”
After leading 2-0 at the half, Romero had another good look in the 48th minute but chipped it over the crossbar.
The Vaqueros gave up their first goal of the season when Kaitlyn Harvey broke free for a 1-on-1 with goalie Alex Camarillo and found the net at 54:23.
The Vaqueros dominated in shots (16-6), shots on goal (6-3) and corner kicks (9-3). Santa Barbara has outscored its first four opponents 8-1.
SBCC kept peppering the net and Vincent broke through at 67:34. She started the play with a corner from the right side, got the ball back on a header from Emily Erwin and hit a hard shot that bounced off the keeper’s leg and into the goal.
“I thought we played well overall but I was a little disappointed that we let them back in the game,” said coach John Sisterson. “We were up 2-0 and we fell asleep at the back. It got a little scrappy, then Baylee came up with another good goal.
“Maria and Steph are starting to play well together, which is great to see. Overall, it’s another win and we’re moving in the right direction.”
SBCC will take next week off, then continue its five-game homestand when Chaffey visits La Playa on Tuesday, Sept. 15 at 2 p.m.
