The City College women’s soccer team defeated Citrus College 4-0 in its opening round of playoffs.
Through the cool fall breeze under the lights at La Playa Stadium, head coach John Sisterson grasped his 150th win.
Sisterson, who has seven straight playoff appearances, led his 14th seeded Vaqueros (13-6-1) to the next round as they defeated the 19th seeded Owls (11-8-2) Thursday night.
“We told them [the girls] we liked where they ended up, playing against Moorpark [last Friday],” said Sisterson. “We started to move the ball around well and got the result the girls deserved. Most importantly, we didn’t concede any [goals].”
Sophomore forward Josefine Von Der Burg, the team leader with 18 goals, gave City College two of its four goals against Citrus.
In the 20th minute, Von Der Burg opened the scoreboard off a corner kick; the Owls failed to clear the ball just as she took the rebound and put it into the back of the net.
“We scored on all of our chances,” said Von Der Burg. “We won the first playoff game and we are so ready for Saturday.”
City College remained dominant throughout the game, giving all of its players minutes on the field. The fiery-attitude stemmed from a 2-1 victory in the regular season finale last Friday over Western State Conference co-champion, Moorpark College. Moorpark took home their first loss in league.
Citrus put City College on its heels in the 29th minute by taking a shot that seemed to be going into the low right corner of the net but was deflected by goalkeeper, Alejandra Camarillo.
Sophomore forward Kathryn Sullivan had just come onto the field in the 34th minute, when less than a minute later Freshman midfielder, Chloe Montano, delivered a back-flick header to her from midfield. Sullivan ran the ball down the sides from about 30 yards and struck it into the net, making it 2-0.
“Honestly, from what I remember, I just took the ball the second I got it and knew what had to be done,” said Sullivan. “It was a perfect ball from ‘Chlo’”.
The Vaqueros tallied another goal in the 58th minute. Freshman forward Katherine Sheehy chipped the ball from the first post and above Citrus’ keeper, leaving Sullivan to simply tuck it in, stretching the lead to 3-0.
Von Der Burg finalized the goal-count in the 73rd minute when she dribbled the ball from about 15 yards out and put it past the goalie and into the back of the net, giving them a late 4-0 lead.
“I feel pretty confident about the [next] game,” said Von Der Burg. “If we play like we did against Moorpark, we’re going to win every game. I feel confident.”
The Vaqueros will travel on Saturday to face No. 3 Santiago Canyons who are (12-3-4) and the Western State Conference East Champions, in a first-round matchup.
