Saddleback beats IVC in conference opener

The Saddleback men's soccer team opened Orange Empire Conference (OEC) play with a 2-1 victory over Irvine Valley College on Tuesday in Irvine.  It was the first win in program history over their inter-district rival.

Saddleback won against IVC for the first time in three tries on Tuesday after going 0-1-1 against the Lasers last season.  The Bobcats received two goals from Andrew Jun in the opening half before holding on for a 2-1 victory.   

Jun opened the scoring in the 16^th minute off a rebound from his own penalty kick.  He then made the score 2-0 in the 25^th minute on a deflection off a free kick from Tyler Petersen.  It was the fourth and fifth goals of the season for Jun and gave the Bobcats a comfortable lead at the midway point.

Irvine Valley made the game tight down the stretch with a goal from Yahya Alsadeq in the 84^th minute.  It proved to be too little too late as the Saddleback defense clamped down the rest of the way to preserve the win. 

Saddleback started Tyler Bourbonnais in goal and he played the entire 90 minutes in improving to 1-0-1 on the season.  Bourbonnais finished with five saves for the game.

Saddleback is now 4-2-1 overall and 1-0 in OEC play following the win.  The Bobcats will continue conference play on Friday when they host Cypress College.  Saddleback and Cypress are scheduled to start at 3:00 PM inside the stadium.