Rain and lightning couldn’t stop the red-hot SBCC women’s soccer team on Saturday.
Katherine Sheehy scored in the 13th minute and the Vaqueros waited out a 40-minute lightning delay and shocked No. 2 Santiago Canyon 1-0 in a Southern Cal Regional final and advanced to the Community College State Final Four for the first time in program history.
It was the third straight playoff win on the road for SBCC, which also beat No. 3 Canyons (1-0) and No. 6 Ventura (3-1).
“I think the girls like playing on the road,” said SBCC coach John Sisterson.
The Vaqueros (16-6-1) won’t have to travel far for the Final Four because it’s being played at Ventura College. They’ll be the No. 2 seed from the South and face North No. 1 Diablo Valley on Friday at 7 p.m. at the Ventura College Sportsplex.
“I’m so happy for the girls,” said Sisterson, who is in his 12th year as the women’s coach. “We felt we were better than a 14 seed in the playoffs. We’re thrilled to be going to the Final 4 for the first time. We had big smiles on our faces before today’s game because there was no pressure on us.”
Santiago Canyon, the champions of the Orange Empire Conference, had its 10-match win streak snapped and suffered its first loss of the year (21-1-1).
Kaitlyn Saperstein delivered a good ball to Sheehy in the 13th minute and the freshman from La Cañada High ran past two defenders and beat the keeper in the bottom left corner. She’s scored in two straight games and has 10 goals on the year.
“After we scored in the 13th minute, the lightning roared in the 20th minute, forcing the long delay,” Sisterson noted. “We didn’t want to stop at that point and that hurt our momentum.”
But the SBCC defense stepped up and frustrated Santiago Canyon.
“Our defense played really well today – Matalyn Perry, Sarah Vail, Gardenia Maya and Isabelle Wuethrich,” Sisterson said. “Once we got to the 70th minute, we were happy. We contained and limited their scoring opportunities.”
The Vaqueros outshot the home team 20-13, including 10-8 in shots on goal.
“You can get into the habit of winning and that’s what we have done,” said Sisterson, whose team finished third in the WSC North and then reeled off four playoff wins by a combined 9-1 score with three shutouts. “You make your own luck. The girls have worked hard and gotten their just rewards.”
Alex Camarillo, a sophomore from Dos Pueblos High, made eight saves and recorded her ninth shutout of the year to improve to 15-5-1.
“It’s great that we get to play the Final Four at Ventura where we’ve played many times before,” said Sisterson. “And we get to play on turf which we’re used to. It will be like playing at home.”
The 16 wins match the most in Sisterson’s 12-year Vaquero history, tying the 2007, 2010 and 2011 teams.