Vaqueros down Santa Monica 4-2 in home finale

SBCC poured in three goals in the final 25 minutes on Tuesday to defeat Santa Monica on Sophomore Day at La Playa Stadium.

After a scoreless first half, Aaron Aaberg fed a through ball to Omar Montalvo, who had just entered the game to start the second half. Montalvo, a sophomore from Dos Pueblos High, scored from the left side in the 48th minute to stake the Vaqueros (7-9-4, 6-5-4) to a 1-0 lead.

"The coaches said they were leaving me open 10 to 15 yards ahead of everybody, so Aaron had the ball and I whispered to him 'Hold, hold.' He passed it at the right moment, I took a touch forward and hit it as hard as I could."

SBCC won for the first time in six games and moved into a fourth-place tie with Santa Monica (6-9-5, 6-5-4) in the WSC with one game remaining.

Freshman defender Albi Skendi made a clever move with two defenders on him in the right corner. He dribbled between the legs of a defender and was pulled down for a penalty kick in the 75th minute. Skendi rolled the PK into the left side for a 2-0 lead.

One minute later, Duncan Bochicchio chipped a shot over SBCC goalie Oscar Haard-Thelm to cut the deficit to 2-1.

The Vaqueros responded with two goals in a two-minute span. Gonzalo Jimenez took a cross from Kebba Nyang and scored his first goal of the year in the 81st minute. In the 83rd, Napoleon Bergstroem hit the right post and Jonathan Mora gathered the rebound and scored a goal while sliding past the keeper for a 4-1 lead.

"We wanted to give the sophomores a chance early on but it didn't seem to be going our way," said coach John Sisterson. "So we switched it around a little bit and we banged four goals in. Gonzalo hasn't played much this year, he's been in and out, he was injured, he had to go back home to Chile for some family business. It was nice to see him get a goal.

"Santa Monica is a dangerous team, they scored three on us in a tie at their place. At the end of the day, I thought we deserved the result."

Bochicchio tallied his second goal in the 85th minute on an assist from Sam Medina.

The Vaqueros will complete their season on Friday with a 2 p.m. game at Moorpark.