Gauchos break through in OEC play

The Saddleback women's soccer team won its first Orange Empire Conference game of the season on Friday night with a 1-0 victory over Golden West College at the Saddleback Stadium.  The Gauchos finally broke through in OEC play after three straight, one-goal losses.

Saddleback was dealing with some frustration after dropping three straight games to open the OEC schedule.  The Gauchos got the monkey off their backs by returning the favor with a one-goal win of their own.

Natally Gomez scored an unassisted goal in the 41^st minute during a half where the Gauchos outshot the Rustlers 6-4.  Saddleback then controlled play throughout the season half by outshooting Golden West 8-3 and allowing just one shot on goal.

Dz-Rae Jara played all 90 minutes in goal and picked up her fourth shutout of the year.  Jara faced only one shot on goal as the defensive line for the Gauchos was un-penetrable. 

Saddleback is now 4-3-1 overall and 1-3 in Orange Empire Conference play.  The win lifted the Gauchos into a tie for sixth place with Golden West with a handful of big games coming in the next few weeks.

Saddleback will be at home again on Tuesday when they host Norco College at 3:00 PM.