Taft College freshman Osvaldo Ibarra Sanchez scored two goals to help lead the Cougars to their first win of the season, a 3-0 non-conference victory at Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria on Friday.
Allan Hancock actually outshot Taft by a 12-9 margin in the contest, but Cougars goalkeeper Sergio Gonzalez was up for the challenge. The freshman posted four saves in goal for TC and the defense also did its part to earn the shutout.
Freshman Emmanuel Iniguez gave the Cougars a 1-0 lead with his goal in the 34th minute.
"It was a beautiful feeling scoring the first goal for the team this preseason," said Iniguez. "It really meant a lot and I look forward to bigger and greater things this year."
Just moments later, Ibarra Sanchez took the pass from freshman Irvin Gonzalez to score the first of his two goals in the 35th minute and send TC into halftime with a 2-0 advantage.
Ibarra Sanchez iced the Cougars victory, scoring his second goal in the 52nd minute off the assist from Iniguez.
Taft, now 1-1-0 overall, returns to action on Tuesday (Sep. 10) when it hosts Santa Ana College in its home opener at Taft Union High School.
