The Vaquero Men’s Soccer Team hustled their way to a 6 – 1 victory over the Moorpark College Raiders Friday night at La Playa Stadium.
With a strong showing from their offense and the team’s elite defense, the Vaqueros scored their most goals all season, in what looks to be their last home game until a potential playoff run.
The offense for both squads was quiet until 20 minutes into the first half, when SBCC scored the game’s first goal. They followed with two more goals in the next ten minutes.
As fog carried the smell of the ocean into La Playa Stadium, the Vaqueros continued to sprint up and down the field. After 70 minutes of play, the score was 6-0, Santa Barbara. The match featured a multitude of headers, as well clean, efficient passes.
Forward Sadiki Johnson (17) played an excellent game, scoring three goals, and ending the first half with a hat-trick, one of the game’s most memorable moments. “I just kept working hard.” Johnson said postgame on whether he changed his approach going into this evening’s game. He continued to talk about how positivity has been huge for his game, and that this game is going to be very impactful in terms of momentum going forward.
Momentum for this squad is going to be huge, at 8-5-3. Friday night game was the team’s highest-scoring game, but it was also the game in which they won by the widest margin, with a five-goal gap between them and their opponent.
This game was an important win for the Vaqueros, and will most likely play a role in next week’s matches. “The momentum came from the previous games we played,” said mid-fielder Ameyawu Muntari (2) who scored the game’s first goal.
After scoring four of their six goals in the first half of the game, the Vaquero defense was able to slow the Moorpark offense, as their opponents scored just one goal in 90-minutes of play.
The team will go on the road to play a match against Los Angeles Mission College in Sylmar, and will then play a game against Santa Monica College next Friday. Should they make the playoffs, the team will host round one of the Southern California Regionals in two weeks.
