Danny Molineaux scored his first two goals of the year and Mark Knight converted two penalty kicks on Monday, staking the Santa Barbara City College men’s soccer team to a 4-0 first-half lead at perennial power Santa Ana, which finished third in the state last year.
The Vaqueros (2-0) went on to post a 4-2 victory, despite playing the last 25 minutes a man down.
“This is a great result,” SBCC coach John Sisterson said. “This is a tough place to play. I was very, very pleased with our performance.”
Molineaux, a freshman from London, opened the scoring in the fourth minute with Knight, also from England, getting the assist. Four minutes later, goalie Ricky Placencia, of Santa Barbara High, saved a penalty kick. Knight converted a PK in the 18th minute, after Molineaux was pulled down in the box. Molineaux notched his second goal in the 21st minute on an assist from Luke Chambers. Knight registered his second PK in the 42nd minute, making the score 4-0.
“Our forwards were a handful for Santa Ana,” Sisterson said.
The Dons cut the deficit in half with goals in the 57th and 60th minutes.
It was a physical game with SBCC receiving six of the nine yellow cards. The Vaqueros played the final 25 minutes with 10 men after Waid Ibrahim received his second yellow card and was ejected. He’ll have to sit out the Vaqueros’ next game, a home game at 7:30 p.m. Friday against Riverside.
Dave Loveton is Santa Barbara City College’s sports information specialist.