SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Frank Aguilar was not voted onto either of the 2019 All-Orange Empire Conference teams. But the sophomore from Norco showed that he probably should have been, as he led the Santa Ana College men's soccer team to a dramatic win over 8th seeded Santa Barbara City (10-4-6) in the first round of the California Community College Athletic Association SoCal Regionals on Saturday.
After the match went to penalty kicks following two 15 minute overtime periods, the goalkeeper came up with three clutch saves to give the Dons a 3-1 advantage, helping them advance the next round.
Edward Gonzalez and Bryan Oseguera also made some big plays for SAC as the pair scored the tying and go-ahead goals in the second half of the match. Marcelo Aguirre and Gilberto Garcia recorded assists on the goals.
Santa Barbara got on the board first with a goal in the 45th minute right before halftime. Following a couple Santa Ana goals in about a 10 minute span, City found a way to tie the game as they were awarded a penalty kick on a foul in the box at the 77 minute mark.
Both teams went scoreless in overtime, setting up the heroic performance by Aguilar.
Santa Ana men's soccer will go on the road again when they face the No. 1 seed in Mt. San Antonio (10-6-5) on Tuesday, November 26th at 7:00 p.m.
Ticket prices are $12 for adults and $8 for students (with valid ID), staff/faculty, senior citizens (60+) and children under 12 years of age. Only CCCAA-approved passes will be honored.
