Cougars Suffer 4-0 Loss to Santa Barbara

By Mari Kneisel/COC Sports Information 

College of the Canyons fell to visiting Santa Barbara City College in a 4-0 result on Tuesday night at the Cougar Soccer Field. 

Canyons (1-4-2) spent the first 20 minutes chasing as the Vaqueros commanded the field with speed and intensity. 

Within those 20 minutes SBCC (4-3-1) went up by two goals, one coming from lead scorer freshman Juan Carlos Torres in the fifth minute of play and the second coming from sophomore Sebastian Rodriguez in the 18th minute. 

The Cougars then found their footing and were able to put together a few runs, methodically working their way they down the field for a handful of opportunities. 

However, the halftime score remained 2-0 in favor of the Vaqueros.

Canyons continued to put more pressure on the Santa Barbara backline leading to more opportunity offensively but were never able to capitalize.

SBCC goalkeeper Ulises Velez denied a shot from COC's Diego Briseno, who finished the night with two total shots, the first going wide earlier in the game. 

Canyons midfielder Jeffery Contreras also recorded a pair of shots, seeing the net for three opportunities. COC freshman Alejandro Zalamea also managed to get a shot on goal.

Despite the Cougars' back line keeping the Vaqueros away from their defensive third for the majority of the second half, SBCC found the net twice more before the final whistle.

In two quick counters, SBCC's Haru Ito put one past COC goalkeeper Hunter Maiden in the 80th minute. That score was followed by Kevin Zendejas two minutes later solidifying the final 4-0 result.

Maiden (0-2-1) ended the night with four goals against seven shots and recorded three saves, picking up the loss.

The Cougars play again Friday, Sept. 20 at 6 p.m. at the Cougar Soccer Field, hosting visiting Victor Valley College. Canyons is then back on the road for next week's contest at Pasadena City College on Tuesday, Sept. 24 for a 3 p.m. kick-off. 

Stay up to date on all this season's action by following the College of the Canyons Athletic department on social media at @COCathletics on X, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. 

—Photo by Carla Sophia Velasco/COC Sports Information