No. 17 Vaqueros hold off Moorpark, 2-1

SBCC scored two goals in a four-minute span of the first half on Friday and went on to defeat Moorpark 2-1 in a WSC North men's soccer match at La Playa Stadium.

The 17th-ranked Vaqueros (9-3-4, 2-2-3) avenged a 3-1 loss a few weeks ago at Moorpark. The Raiders lost their fifth in a row and fell to 3-12-2 and 1-7-0.

Santa Barbara is 7-1-2 at home this season.

Christopher Robinson opened the scoring at 27:10, taking a nice cross-field pass from Wayne McClellan and blasting a 16-yard shot into the upper right. Less than four minutes later, Moorpark goalie Reece Knupp picked up a back-pass from a teammate, giving the Vaqueros an indirect free kick from just inside the left corner of the box.

JahMikaili Hutton rolled the ball to Luiz Garcia and he bent it into the right side for his first goal of the year and a 2-0 Vaquero lead at the 31-minute mark.

"The wall was on the left side, so I chose to go to the right," said Garcia, a freshman midfielder from San Marcos High. "We played well and got the three points, so that's what matters."

The Raiders dominated the second half with a 10-2 shot advantage, including 5-1 in shots on goal. Moorpark cut the deficit in half early in the second half. Angel Rubalcaba rolled the ball to Jason Bar and he beat the keeper from 14 yards at 50:03.

SBCC didn't get a shot in the second half until Garcia blasted a high one through the football uprights 30 minutes in. Moorpark's Bryan Ramos was on the doorstep at 76:40 but SBCC goalie Patrick Mahon turned away two straight shots. Mahon made four of his five saves in the second half.

"We weren't at our best all day," said SBCC assistant coach Christy Gates-Bowes. "We had a few injuries but we dug deep and got the win. That was a great finish by Luiz, he really deserved that goal."

SBCC is playing three home games this week. The Vaqueros will host Santa Monica in a makeup match on Sunday at 2 p.m.