Offense has off day in 0-0 tie with Santa Monica

Maybe it was playing three games in six days or playing a rare Sunday match but SBCC's offense never got into gear in a 0-0 men's soccer tie with Santa Monica at La Playa Stadium.

The game was a makeup of a previous contest that was postponed by the Getty Fire.

The Vaqueros are 9-3-5 overall and 2-2-4 in the WSC North. The Corsairs are 6-4-9 and 2-1-5.

Santa Monica outshot SBCC 14-6 and had four shots on goal compared to just one for the Vaqueros.

"Our offense wasn't quite there today," said Christopher Robinson, the Vaqueros' top scorer with seven goals. "I don't know if it was playing so many games in such a short time, that kind of drains us a little bit. We weren't as creative as we usually are. Santa Monica was pretty solid on defense."

The Vaqueros had several scoring chances. In the 14th minute, Luiz Garcia sent a corner kick to Roni Spektor and he had an open net from 6 feet but headed it over the bar. At 25:50, JahMikaili Hutton dribbled around a defender and booted the ball off the bar and down. Some players felt it landed inside the line and should have been a goal.

"From my angle, it looked like that went in," said central defender Neil Gilles, a sophomore from Perth, Australia. "We were hustling all day and played solid defense."

Sophomore goalie Patrick Mahon (3-1-3) made four saves and notched his third shutout.

SBCC's only shot on goal came at 63:30 and GK Aydin Kose made the save on a shot by Spektor.

"We just couldn't get it right today for whatever reason," said Vaquero coach John Sisterson. "I don't know if it was the Sunday afternoon blues or what. We never really found a rhythm. I thought we scored a good goal but the referee said no. If that had gone in, it would have been a different game.

"It was just one of those days that things didn't click and you get that sometimes. We didn't perform like we know we can."

Isaac Gonzalez gave the Vaqueros a scare in the 90th minute when his shot caromed off the crossbar.

SBCC has two games left in the regular season – Tuesday at L.A. Mission at 3 p.m. and Friday at Santa Monica at 1 p.m.