Clowder roars louder in playoff opener

The Saddleback men's soccer team won its first-ever playoff game on Wednesday night with a 4-1 victory over Compton College inside the stadium.  The Bobcats now play at Oxnard College on Saturday.

Saddleback came in as the No. 11 seed and Compton the No. 22 seed, so on paper the Bobcats were supposed to be the better team.  Saddleback didn't disappoint, controlling play throughout.  The Bobcats scored in the opening minutes of the game and never looked back, advancing to the second round of the playoffs.

Saddleback rattled the net for the first time in the seventh minute when Alejandro Gonzalez took a ball off the foot of Christoph Lutkemeyer and blasted it into the left side of the net. It was Gonzalez's third goal of the season and energized the Bobcat bench. 

Saddleback made it 2-0 in the 45^th minute on what would be the final play of the half.  Gus Roetcisoender took a pass from Andrew Jun and beat the keeper for a 2-0 advantage at the break.

Saddleback outshot Compton 13-4 in the opening half, with an 8-3 advantage in shots on goal.

Saddleback put the game away in the 65^th minute when Jun took a long ball from Andy Garcia and scored his team-leading 11^th goal of the season for a 3-0 advantage.  The goal allowed the Bobcats to get a lot of fresh jerseys into the game, with another tough matchup on Saturday looming.

Compton scored its lone goal of the game in the 75th minute when Hugo Reyes took a loose ball and beat Dominic DiFrenna to the right side of the net.  The surge of momentum for Compton would be short-lived as Jun scored in the final minutes of the game with a brilliant shot from 25-yards out when he blasted a ball into the upper right corner of the net.

Saddleback finished with a 17-5 advantage in total shots and an 11-4 advantage in shots-on-goal. 

DiFrenna played in goal for Saddleback until the 80^th minute in picking up his sixth win of the season.  Tyler Bourbonnais played the final 10 minutes in goal.

Saddleback is now 10-6-5 overall for the season.  The Bobcats will play in round two of the 3C2A Southern California Regional Tournament at Oxnard College on Saturday.  The game time is scheduled for 2:00 PM.