Vaqueros blank No. 2 Hawks 1-0, reach State Final 4 for first time

Katherine Sheehy scored in the 13th minute on a rainy Saturday afternoon and No. 14 SBCC waited out a 40-minute lightning delay to shock No. 2 Santiago Canyon 1-0 in a Southern Cal Regional women's soccer final in the city of Orange.

"I'm so happy for the girls," said 12th-year coach John Sisterson. "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."

The Vaqueros (16-6-1) won their sixth straight game and fourth straight playoff to advance to the State Final Four for the first time in history. They'll be the No. 2 seed from the South and will face Diablo Valley (North No. 1, 17-1-6) on Friday in a 7 p.m. semifinal at the Ventura College Sportsplex.

Cerritos (22-1-0), the four-time defending State champion and the top seed in the South, also advanced by beating San Bernardino Valley in penalty kicks after a 1-1 tie.

Santa Barbara has upset the No. 3, 6 and 2 seeds in the last eight days. "I think the girls like playing on the road," said Sisterson.

Santiago Canyon, the champions of the Orange Empire Conference, had their 10-match win streak snapped and suffered their first loss of the year (21-1-1).

Kaitlyn Saperstein delivered a good pass to Sheehy in the 13th minute and the freshman from La Canada 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.

The 16 wins match the most in Sisterson's 12-year Vaquero history, tying the 2007, 2010 and 2011 teams. The 16 victories are the second-most in school history behind the 2002 squad that went 19-2-1.

"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.

"Our defense played really well today – Matalyn Perry, Sarah Vail, Gardenia Maya and Isabelle Wuethrich," he added. "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."

Alejandra 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."