SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The conference-leading No. 11 Santa Barbara City College Women’s Soccer team (12-4, 7-0) capped off a crucial week by defeating second-place LA Pierce (8-6-2, 5-3) on Friday, 3-0.

The Vaqueros also won at Moorpark—who were tied for second with Pierce at the time—on Tuesday this week. The two victories are a huge step towards the program’s goal of a Western State Conference (WSC) North three-peat. With five games to play, they are three games ahead of any other team.

The closest either team came to scoring in the first half was on Malia Misawa‘s free kick in the 30th minute. Leilani Sanchez won a free kick in the middle of the field about 30 yards from goal. Misawa hit the ensuing dead ball cleanly, looking for the top left corner, but the Pierce goalie got her fingertips to it and pushed it over the bar.

About five minutes later, it was a similar formula. Sanchez won a corner, and Misawa was the corner taker. Her delivery hit directly off the front of the crossbar and ricocheted to Jazmyn Camarena. However, the angle was too tight, and her improvised shot found the side netting outside the post.

Despite going into halftime scoreless, the Vaqueros dominated possession and field position. It felt like only a matter of time before the breakthrough came.

But Pierce could have scored five minutes into the second half. Tindra Eckstein perfectly timed a last-ditch slide tackle to prevent a goal while also not conceding a penalty. Still, Pierce had not had a meaningful shot in the game, but they started the second half more on the front foot.

Furthermore, the wind really picked up early in the second half, with the Vaqueros going into it. All the momentum of the first half ground to a halt.

The Vaqueros stayed firm, weathering the storm of the first 20 minutes without conceding—and it paid off. Around the 70th minute, Morgan Retterer and Fiona Bulmer combined on a great one-two, with Retterer tapping into the back of the net.

Just a few minutes later, Bulmer scored herself. Sanchez played an incisive ball to her, and she confidently drilled a first-time finish from the left side of the box. It was Bulmer’s 10th goal involvement in the last five games.

Keeping the pattern, Sanchez got the next goal around the 80th minute. Dribbling around multiple Pierce defenders, she finished off the move with an excellent one-on-one finish to match the run as Santa Barbara sealed the win.

The Vaqueros have a full week off before they travel to Cuesta (7-7-1, 3-4) next Friday at 4 p.m.