10-Man Vaqueros Claw Their Way Back to Beat Glendale 3-2
SANTA BARBARA, CA – The Santa Barbara City College Men's Soccer team scored 2 goals late to beat Glendale at home Friday night, 3-2.
"These young men showed how to be resilient when their backs are against the wall," head coach Alexander Zermeno said.
The scoring began as Glendale scored off a corner in the 18th minute.
SBCC returned the favor by scoring off a corner in the 40th minute—Sebastian Rodriguez to Gino Contreras.
The second half was deadlocked 1-1, but the situation looked bleak for the Vaqueros after Pedro Gullien's second yellow card not only reduced SBCC to 10 men, but resulted in a penalty kick goal for Glendale. It was now 2-1 Glendale in the 58th minute.
The Vaqueros would not go down without a fight, though. In the 77th minute, Charles Jay Retzer sparked a transitional moment, dribbling past multiple defenders before slipping Liam Wilder in on goal for a beautiful equalizer.
Then, in the 88th minute, Retzer, his footprints all over the game, was fouled in the box. Sebastian Rodriguez emphatically converted the penalty, securing the 3-2 win for the 10-man Vaqueros.
"Ivan Virgen played lights out and showed his leadership in the last 15 minutes of the game," Zermeno said proudly. "Sebi Rodriguez did everything we asked and put the game winning goal away.
"We have to execute more. We had chance after chance, that's part of the beautiful game. But we will take it, going down to 10 men and finding a way to win was huge!"
The Vaqueros, 4-2-4 overall, will take the win into conference play next week, beginning with a match at Santa Monica Wednesday at 1:00 PM.