This fall, a handful of City College teams made the playoffs, including water polo, men and women’s soccer and women’s golf.
While men’s soccer season ended on Saturday night with a loss to Santa Ana, women’s soccer beat rival Ventura College at home and moved on to round two of the playoffs.
The Channels spoke with members of the water polo team and the women’s golf team about how each team fared in the postseason.
Water Polo
Taylor Brooks (No.2) getting a clean shot off and scoring on Friday, Nov. 1, 2019, at Santa Barbara High School in Santa Barbara, Calif. City College beat LA Pierce 17-4.
The City College water polo team claimed its sixth-straight Western State Conference title before finishing third in the Southern California Regionals in an eventful postseason run.
A stellar 26-4 regular-season record had the Vaqueros ranked second in the state going into the playoffs, where they faced Ventura in the WSC Tournament semifinals. Five players scored two goals each in an 11-8 victory, setting up a battle between City College and Citrus College for the conference title.
The Vaqueros won 16-11 behind six goals from freshman attacker Annie Ackert.
“Conference was an amazing experience,” said goalie Zoe Johnson. “We, as a team, played really well together.”
The successful title defense set the group up for a strong start to regionals, as it downed Golden West 10-4. Sophomore utility player Taylor Brooks scored five goals, reaching a total of 126 in the season and ultimately broke the school record of 123 set in 2018.
“With some amazing goals and team defense stops, we ended up winning,” Johnson said.
She had seven saves and only allowed one goal in the game.
The Vaqueros finally fell to tournament hosts Riverside City College 12-7 in the semifinals.
“We never gave up,” Johnson explained. “Even though we lost that game, I think it showed how much we had grown as a team over the season.”
In the end, three Brooks goals and nine Johnson saves weren’t enough to topple Riverside, and the City College team moved on to a rematch with Citrus College in the third-place game.
The venue was different this time, but the result was not. Another five goals for Brooks were too much for the opponent in the 10-5 victory and brought her total to a state-leading 134 goals.
Johnson also made history with a school record of 234 saves during the year.
“I am proud of how we finished and I can’t wait to get back in the pool for swim season,” Johnson said.
Golf
Pratima Sherpa drives the ball down the fairway at the Santa Barbara Golf Club for her 18 hole practice game early Wednesday, Oct. 23 in Santa Barbara, Calif. Sherpa is working to become the first pro female golfer from Nepal.
The City College women’s golf team took seventh place in the state finals on Monday, Nov. 18 in Morro Bay, Calif.
After placing fourth in the first round on Sunday, City College scored a combined total of 342 points, while College of the Canyons combined to shoot a 304 and ultimately took first place.
City College standout Pratima Sherpa scored a 74 on both Sunday and Monday, placing fourth in the individual rankings.
“It was a great experience,” Sherpa said. “[My] hard work paid off.”
Sherpa, who is in her first year at City College, is proud of herself and her team for how it played this season.
The team’s lone sophomore, Alexa Bleth, tied for eleventh place in the individual player rankings, scoring a 76 and an 82.
The Vaqueros failed to place first in any tournament this season, but finished second in all six rounds played in October.
Sherpa birdied the last two par-fives of the course on the last day of the tournament and finished the season strong.
As the women’s season comes to an end, men’s golf will kick off tournament play in January 2020.
Though the season is over for Sherpa and the Vaqueros, she will be hitting the course all off-season before diving back in for her second year with City College next August.
