By Ryan Graff, SBCC Sports Information
The SBCC women's soccer team's first-round Southern Cal Regional match against Rio Hondo at La Playa Stadium can be summed up by one fact: even the penalty kicks went to sudden death.
After 120 minutes on Saturday night — regulation plus two 15-minute overtime periods — of scoreless play between the WSC North champion Vaqueros and the Foothill Conference co-champion Roadrunners followed by both teams hitting the back of the net on 4-of-5 PK tries, Hannah Martin found herself at the PK spot with a chance to boost No. 4 Santa Barbara over No. 13 Rio Hondo and into the semifinals against No. 5 San Diego Miramar.
But the 5-10 midfielder found out in heartbreaking fashion that soccer is a game of inches.
Martin's attempt seemed destined to sneak in under the crossbar as it came off her foot, but Roadrunner goalkeeper Christina Holquin, who entered the game in the 118th minute, managed to get both hands on the shot and deflect the ball over the top of the net.
Just moments later, Rio Hondo's Courtney Gonzalez snuck her attempt past a sprawling Kasey Jensen — who was substituted into the match with under two minutes left to play by City College coach John Sisterson — allowing the Roadrunners to escape with a 5-4 victory on PKs while handing the Vaqs their first home loss of the 2014 campaign.
The scoreless draw at the end of double-overtime was certainly not due to a lack of chances.
SBCC's Emily Erwin made an incredible defensive stop in the 26th minute, clearing a deflection off keeper Karin Nordin that would have found the twine, and Rio Hondo's Alexis Marinero blasted a shot off the post in the 43rd.
Santa Barbara's Chiara Kehl then nearly went upper-90 with a pair of free kicks in the 72nd and 83rd minutes. Starting goalie Katelyn Oshima bobbled it and almost let the first sneak through, and Vaquero leading scorer Kaitlyn Crooker just missed a follow-up chance off the second.
On a night when she thwarted five shots on target, Nordin made her most emphatic save halfway through the first overtime period, diving to her right to prevent the Roadrunners from scoring the decisive goal.
The red and black managed five shots on goal as well and tallied four corner kicks to Rio Hondo's five.
Sarah Jimenez, Laura Romero, Jackie Hollmer and Kehl converted their respective penalty kicks on the first, second, fourth and fifth attempts for the Vaqs. Tavara Zachert-Johnson drew post on the third before Martin missed the sixth. Jensen made a diving save on the lone Roadrunner miss.
The Vaqueros, who claimed the WSC North title with a 9-0-3 record, finish their season at 14-3-5 overall.
Sisterson earned his second Coach of the Year award, while Sandy Grimaldo (9 goals, 7 assists) was named Player of the Year and Crooker (18 goals, 5 assists) led the squad with 41 total points, which was good for top-20 in the State.
