Vaqueros split two thrilling games at LBCC Battle at the Beach

Hana Wigzell score the tying goal with 1:40 remaining against Long Beach City College and Annie Ackert converted a penalty shot one minute later to send SBCC to a 12-11 win over LBCC in the third-place game of the LBCC Battle at the Beach at Cerritos College. Earlier in the day, the second-ranked Vaqueros dropped an exciting 7-6 overtime contest to No. 3 Riverside. 

"As a coach, I learned one thing about my team today and that's we have a lot of heart," said Head Coach Chuckie Roth. "We fought back against Riverside for the entire game and throughout the overtime. Then against Long Beach, we were down by three in the first quarter. Again, we never gave up, played hard and found a way to win."

The game against Riverside (22-4) was very evenly matched as the two state powers battled for the third time this year. 

Riverside scored the only goal of the first quarter and then opened the scoring in the second quarter for a 2-0 lead. It would be the only time the goal differential was more than one for the remainder of the game.

Ackert got the Vaqueros (22-4) on the board at the 2:51 mark of the second quarter and a Madison Wayman goal with seven seconds left in the half knotted the score at two.

SBCC took its only lead of the match when Wigzell opened the third quarter scoring, but the lead lasted less than a minute as Riverside tied the game at three 54 seconds later.

From there, the game was tied at four, five and six before Riverside scored the decisive goal with 1:39 remaining in overtime. 

Ackert scored SBCC's overtime goal and ended with a team-leading three goals. Zoe Johnson recorded seven saves for the Vaqueros in goal. Taylor Brooks had five drawn ejections.

Riverside's win was their seventh in a row with their previous defeat coming at the hands of the Vaqueros on Oct. 5.

In the second game of the day, the Vaqueros took on host Long Beach City College, the fourth-ranked team in the state.

The Vaqueros jumped out to a 1-0 lead on the Vikings (19-5) on a goal by Brooks at the 7:26 mark of the first quarter. However LBCC scored five of the next six goals in a high-scoring first quarter. On SBCC's final possession of the quarter, Wigzell scored with four seconds left and the teams finished the first with LBCC leading 5-3.

LBCC opened the second quarter scoring to take a 6-3 lead over the Vaqueros, but from there, the momentum clearly shifted to SBCC. The Vaqueros scored the next three goals, two of them coming from Brooks, to knot the game at six. Brooks is the second-leading scorer in the state with 93 goals. Lauren Bellevia of Golden West leads the state with 97.

This time, it was Riverside who quelled SBCC's momentum with less than a minute left in the quarter as they nudged ahead with a goal with :50 seconds remaining to carry a 7-6 lead into halftime.

SBCC outscored LBCC 3-2 in the third quarter to set up an exciting fourth quarter that began with the teams tied at nine.

Jessica Goix opened the fourth-quarter scoring and put SBCC up 10-9 at the 6:10 mark. LBCC answered just 10 seconds later and the game remained tied at 10 until the final 2:08.

The Vikings edged ahead of the Vaqueros for the last time on a goal with 2:08 left, but they couldn't keep the Vaqueros down for long as Wigzell and Ackert's late goals led the Vaqueros to a hard-fought victory. Wigzell tied her season high with six steals.

"Hana Wigzell really came through in a pinch for us against Long Beach," said Roth. "She drove five meters with under two minutes left in the game. I'm really proud of her leadership and who she is, in and out of the water."

Johnson played the entire game in goal for SBCC and was solid in the nets once again.

The Vaqueros host their annual Halloween Invitational next weekend at Santa Barbara High in the final weekend of the regular season. SBCC will play four games in two days, starting with two on Friday -- vs. West Valley at 5:00 p.m. and a WSC match vs. L.A. Pierce at 6:20 p.m.