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SBCC Upsets Sonoma State in Thriller

Box Score

Mar. 14, 2010

Santa Barbara, CA - The Vaqueros won 17-16 in a stunner over visiting Sonoma State on the turf at UCSB. SBCC was down 8-6 at halftime to the WWLL North D1 Seawolves but outscored them 11-8 in the second half to steal the game and halt a two game loss streak.  The winning goal came on a nice feed inside with a great teamwork play.

Freshman Christine Hopkins (Dublin, CA) looked like she might try to score the game winner with only moments left in the game. Sonoma had just rallied from a 3 goal deficit to tie it at 16-16 and so the Vaqueros needed a draw control and a big play to win it in regulation.  SBCC got the draw control and it led to Hopkins driving to goal but she was fouled hard on the way. Really hard. The uncontrolled attempt at playing defense by the Sonoma player leveled Hopkins and sent her sprawling to the turf. It might have been a foul even in men's lacrosse. After making sure all her limbs were still attached Hopkins set up for the free position shot. The obvious option for her was a shot from a wide angle on the hanging hash with not a lot of time to create something for herself. While contemplating that she also scanned the field for teammates to find another avenue for getting the ball into the Sonoma goal. 

Hopkins took two steps in on the whistle for the restart but then passed to Jordan Venetis (Thousand Oaks, CA) cutting back door  to goal. The sophomore leaped and caught the ball and spun before shooting to bury it with 6 seconds left in the game. The draw with 6 seconds on the clock was unlikely to lead to a goal for either team but SBCC sophomore Christina Wong  (Carlsbad, CA) made sure there was no chance for Sonoma by controlling the last loose ball. A wild celebration followed the final whistle.

It was the 7th goal of the game for Venetis, who announced her commitment to UCSB after the game. The midfielder will be the first Vaquero player to transfer from the young SBCC women's lacrosse program to the Gauchos. 

SBCC head coach Jillian Boyd was ecstatic after the game.

"I'm very proud of the team and how they came together and truly played like a team," said Boyd.

"This was a huge accomlishment for us and I cannot say it enough, how proud I am. I am very excited to see where this program is headed."

SBCC evened their record at 4-4  and improved to 3-4 against teams from four year schools. They are 1-0 against other community college teams. The Vaqueros, who have a head start on the rest of the two year schools in the state of California, play next when they face Cal State Fullerton on April 10th at UCSB as part of a triple header with the UCSB 'A' and 'B' teams. Sonoma dropped to 4-9 and plays the club from UC Berkeley next in Berkeley on March 20th. 

SBCC closes the season with the Fullerton game and a contest with Cal State Long Beach before wrapping up 2009 at Marymount College in Palos Verdes.  The three opponents are a combined 3-11 so the Vaqueros can earn themselves a winning season by keeping this momentum going.