Vanguard ends Hawks’ win streak

ECS staff report

COSTA MESA – Athletic competition in the  Golden State Athletic Conference mirrors each other when it comes to women’s volleyball and men’s soccer.

Westmont is nationally ranked and holds first place in its division, Vanguard is second and received votes in the NAIA national rankings and sits second, with vastly improving San Diego Cristian College on the heels of both top-flight programs.

While the Hawks women’s volleyball team snapped an 18-year drought to finally defeat Vanguard to move into second place in the GSAC West Division on Wednesday (Mar. 3), the SDCC men’s soccer team will need to wait a little longer.

On Thursday (Mar. 4), Vanguard’s Stewart Alvayero tallied a pair of goals, while Andrew Robles and Marc Trejo each added a goal and an assist, lifting the Lions to a 5-1 decision at the brand-new VU Soccer Complex.

While the Hawks volleyball team ended a 35-match losing streak to Vanguard, the Lions’ spikers continued their dominance of SDCC, extending their soccer run to 23-2-1 all-time.

For San Diego Christian (5-2-0 overall, 1-1-0  GSAC West Division), the setback snapped a 5-match winning streak to remain in third place. Vanguard sits second in the table at 1-1-0 (3-1-0 overall) by holding the head-to-head tie-breaker over the Hawks.

Quickly down after just 57 seconds of the opening minute, Vanguard extended its advantage to 2-0 before SDCC answered. William Nyambo scored his 15th career goal (third this season) on an assist from Gael Ruiz in the 23rd minute. Both are forwards.

Nyambo, a senior, hails from the capital city of Lilongwe in the eastern Africa country of Malawi, located across the Mozambique Channel from the island nation of Madagascar.  Ruiz is a freshman from nearby Chula Vista, where the freshman attended Hilltop High.

However, Alvayero answered in the second half, then added his second tally in the contest’s closing seconds.

After dropping the opener to nationally-ranked Life Pacific, the Hawks winning streak included triumphs over Saint Katherine (4-1), Providence Christian (2-0), La Sierra (3-1), Saint Katherine again (4-0), and Hope International (2-1). The stretch is the school’s best since the 2012 season.

Women

Vanguard’s women’s soccer squad took out San Diego Christian, 5-0, in the first game of Thursday’s (Mar. 4) GSAC doubleheader in Costa Mesa.

The Hawks are now 1-3-1 overall (0-2-0 GSAC).