Joclyn Coney scored on a breakaway in the 87th minute Tuesday afternoon and Ventura, the state’s top-ranked team, held on to beat the Santa Barbara City College women’s soccer team 1-0 at La Playa Stadium, clinching its 12th WSC North title in the past 13 years.
The Vaqueros (13-2-5, 7-2-1) suffered their first home loss in two years in their regular-season finale. SBCC went 7-1-2 at home this year and is 15-1-5 at La Playa in the past two seasons.
The Vaqueros had several solid scoring chances. Laura Spivack‘s goal in the 20th minute was nullified by offsides, and a breakaway by Danna Wahlund in the 70th minute was blocked point-blank by the Ventura goalie.
“I thought I was offsides,” Wahlund said. “I should have just assumed I was onside. I wasn’t composed when I took the shot. We clearly played better, but they got the win.”
The goal was the first allowed by SBCC in six games, dating back to Oct. 24. Ventura (16-1-3, 9-0-0) was the last team to score on the Vaqueros prior to Tuesday, posting a 1-0 victory on Oct. 17 in Ventura.
“It was a disappointing result, but I thought the girls performed very well,” Vaquero coach John Sisterson said. “We had a number of chances that we didn’t finish. They took their chance three minutes from the end and they finished.
“They’re the No. 1-ranked team in California and, overall, I thought we outplayed them.”
SBCC, ranked No. 11 in Southern Cal, will probably be on the road for its first playoff game on Nov. 22.
Dave Loveton is Santa Barbara City College‘s sports information specialist.