Kaitlyn Saperstein scored SBCC's first goal in WSC play with a high-arching shot in the 54th minute on Tuesday night at La Playa Stadium and the Vaqueros went on to blank Ventura 2-0 for their first WSC North women's soccer win.
The defending WSC champion Vaqueros improved to 6-3-4 and 1-1-3 while Ventura fell to 3-10-2 and 2-3-0.
Saperstein took the shot about three yards from the right sideline and 21 yards from the goal. The ball sailed above Ventura goalie Amy Neidiffer and trickled off the top of her fingers into the goal.
That ended a 440-minute scoreless streak for the Vaqueros (6-3-4, 1-1-3), whose last goal came in the second half of the San Bernardino Valley contest five games ago on Sept. 29.
"It was really like a flood of relief," said Saperstein, a freshman midfielder from San Marcos High. "Thank God, we finally scored to break the ice. I was trying to cross it but it curved and ended up going in."
Saperstein passed the ball to Steph Romero in the 59th minute and she was sandwiched in the penalty box. Romero beat the goalie to the left on the penalty kick in the 60th minute, boosting the lead to 2-0.
The Vaqueros had been shut out in five of six games coming into the Ventura match. SBCC had the only two shots on-goal in the opening half, which ended in a 0-0 tie.
SBCC's Josefine Von Der Burg narrowly missed a 23-yard shot to the left in the 2nd minute of the second half and Ventura didn't get a shot on goal until Adrina Palacios was denied in the 50th minute.
The Vaqueros won the shot battle, 13-12, and shots-on-goal, 5-3.
"I'm pleased for the girls and they thoroughly deserved to win," said 11th-year head coach John Sisterson. "It was a long time coming. It's nice to keep a clean sheet, we worked hard for it. There were some good performances.
"We played Kathryn Sullivan at center-forward for the first time and she worked hard, held the ball well and showed what a good player she is. Every time she was running at them, she was a threat."
Sophomore defender Emily Erwin, who was already playing with a cast on a broken hand, suffered a leg injury in the eighth minute and never returned.
Goalie Alex Camarillo made three saves in the second half to notch her sixth shutout.
"Sometimes, a goal like Kaitlyn's can give you a boost and get the wind behind you," Sisterson added. "I know the girls were a little nervous about when our first win was coming. We were unlucky at Cuesta last week and we were pretty frustrated.
"The conference is wide open. Ventura will beat some teams and we hope the results will start going in our favor and then, who knows what will happen?"
SBCC will host Taft in a nonconference game on Friday at 2 p.m.
