Vaqueros edge Santa Monica 2-1 in WSC North finale

Roni Spektor scored in the 32nd minute and Fernando Ochoa made it 2-0 in the 83rd on Friday as SBCC held off Santa Monica 2-1 in its WSC North men's soccer finale at Santa Monica.

The Vaqueros improved to 10-4-5 overall and 3-3-4 in conference. The Corsairs are 7-5-9 and 3-2-5.

SBCC is 10th in the Southern Cal power points and 16 teams make the playoffs.

Santa Monica got a penalty kick from Eto Atiabet four minutes into stoppage time in the second half.

"We gave everything we had today," said assistant coach Matt Wilkinson. "I've never seen the boys so passionate and work so hard to grind out a win at a very tough place to play. We got a great goal in the first half and the defense worked hard in the second half when we didn't give them anything.

"Fernando won the ball from a defender, ran with it for 20 yards, cut inside and made a great strike from 25 yards to make it 2-0. After that, we knew we just had to defend.The referee gave them a dubious penalty in the 94th minute and added eight minutes of extra time, so it was a little nervy at the end."

The Vaqueros will most likely be on the road for their playoff opener on Saturday, Nov. 23.