No. 1 Vaqueros tally four second-half goals to secure WSC North title

SBCC scored four second-half goals on Tuesday night, including three in a six-minute span, to blank Ventura 4-0 in a women's soccer match at the VC Sportsplex.

The No. 1-ranked Vaqueros won their 16th straight to clinch their first WSC North title since 2014 and the third in their history. They're 16-0-1 overall and 7-0 in conference with one game remaining.

SBCC, ranked No. 2 in the country, has posted shutouts in nine straight games, outscoring those opponents 37-0. GK Holly Telliard and the defense have 14 clean sheets in 17 games.

Gardenia Maya, a sophomore defender from Santa Barbara High, bent in a corner kick in the 53rd minute for her first goal of the year and a 1-0 lead.

The Vaqueros broke it open with three goals in a six-minute span. Chloe Montano blasted in a 30-yard shot in the 61st, Lourdes Gilbert scored in the bottom corner in the 63rd and Katherine Sheehy made a PK in the 66th minute after getting pulled down in the box.

Montano and Sheehy both have 10 goals, which ties them for second on the team behind Isabella Viana's 12.

"We felt we were the best team this year and the girls deserved the conference title," said coach John Sisterson. "Bella nearly scored in the first 40 seconds. She had a 1-on-1 with the keeper and hit it over the bar. We had several great chances in the first half.

"Ventura gave us a real battle in the first half, then we played a lot better in the second half."

Sisterson also coached the Vaquero men's soccer team to a WSC North title and an unbeaten season (14-0-4) this year. It's the second time Sisterson has guided the men and women to WSC titles. They first achieved the feat in 2011 when the men finished third in the state. The Vaquero women took third in the State Final Four last year at Ventura.

Sisterson said if the men can beat Santa Monica on Thursday night at home and the women can knock off Cuesta on Friday at 3 p.m. in San Luis Obispo, it would be the first time any school in California has had undefeated seasons and won the conference in men's and women's soccer in the same year.

The Vaqueros have won four WSC titles this fall in Women's Soccer, Men's Soccer, Women's Golf and Women's Water Polo.