From the first whistle to the last, it was the home team GCC Vaqueros that had the greater will to win at Sartoris Field in a 2-0 victory over visiting Santa Barbara Tuesday, Sept. 17.

Glendale played with great intensity and it showed up and down the field and from sideline to sideline as they fought for every possession and secured its first win over the visitors in the longest time or at least longer than anyone could remember on the sidelines. “We showed up to play tonight and got on the same page as what needs to be done to play to our potential,’’ said GCC Head Coach Laura Matsumoto. “I’m encouraged that we can play this well and maybe even better if we play as a team and fight like we did tonight.’’

An unassisted goal by sophomore Andrew Senane gave GCC a 1-0 lead at the 16:16 mark of time left in the first half and it was left to the Glendale defense to deny the visitors not only field position but also limited shots on goal as goalie Alfredo “Tito” Tejada, making a diving stop in the photo above, turned away the only two shots on the nets all night. His defensive backfield did the rest as they denied the visitors time and time again in what could have been their best performance of the season.

Freshman Alan Trujillo topped off the scoring with a late goal at the 68:21 mark in the second half on a sharp pass from Wilmer Bonilla to make it 2-0 and then he sprinted directly into the arms of his excited teammates on the sideline to celebrate the long-overdue victory.

Glendale completed a solid week of play last Friday, Sept. 20 with a 1-0 win at East L.A. to improve to 4-4 this season. Tejada pitched his second shutout of the week turning away 10 shots by the Huskies and Senane scored the only goal of the game, his second of the week. 

Alex Leon can be reached at [email protected].