Vaqueros down Bakersfield 3-1

The defenders got offensive on a warm Friday afternoon as SBCC knocked off Bakersfield 3-1 in a non-conference men's soccer match at La Playa Stadium.

Forward Christopher Robinson opened the scoring in the 14th minute, taking a pass from Saul Sosa, dribbling to the middle of the field and blasting a 20-yard shot into the upper right corner.

"I felt like we controlled the game pretty well in the second half, so we didn't really need to attack all the time," said Robinson, who has three goals in three games. "It was a hot day (84 degrees) and we wanted to control the ball. We had time to build up some good offense and we put our shots on net."

The Vaqueros (2-0-1) outshot the Renegades 14-12 and dominated in shots-on-goal, 9-3.

Jonas Romero, a freshman defender from San Marcos High, made it 2-0 at the 20:10 mark. JahMikaili Hutton, a sophomore defender from Santa Barbara High, crossed the ball from the right side and Romero drilled a shot that bounced off the keeper and right back to him. He put the rebound into the lower left corner.

The Renegades (3-3-1) cut the lead in half when Angel Cervantes dribbled around a defender and lofted the ball into the upper left, making it 2-1 in the 26th minute.

The Vaqueros (2-0-1) led 2-1 at halftime.

Another freshman defender, Roni Spektor of Israel, got his first college goal early in the second half. Adam Chenoweth, a freshman defender from Santa Barbara High, took a free kick from deep in the right corner and Spektor headed it in to boost the margin to 3-1.

"It was an improvement from our first two games when we only scored one goal in each game," said coach John Sisterson. "We put three past them and that's what we wanted. We were a little disappointed with allowing a sloppy goal but at times, we played very well.

"Sometimes, we become our own worst enemy when we start to smash the ball and lower our standards. That's when you can fall into traps and slow the game down. All we have to do is keep our momentum, keep the ball on the floor and play hard. When we do that, we look very good."

After playing their first three at home, the Vaqueros will play three of the next four on the road. They'll travel to Glendale for the "Battle of the Vaqueros" on Tuesday at 7 p.m.


Jonas Romero, right, gets congratulations from JahMikaili Hutton after scoring his first college goal to make it 2-0.
(Photo by Ken Sciallo/Sevilla Photography)