Bobcats prevail on sophomore night

The Saddleback men's soccer team defeated Orange Coast College, 3-1, on Friday inside the stadium.  The Bobcats are now in third place with three games remaining.

Saddleback seems to be breaking out of a funk, and it couldn't have come at a better time.  The Bobcats have now won two straight games by comfortable margins and could be on the verge of qualifying for the playoffs for the first time in program history.

Saddleback came out hot on Friday, scoring in the opening minute when Andrew Jun gave a beautiful feed to Zerak Ayoub, who slammed home his second goal of the season for a quick lead. 

Orange Coast answered in the 10^th minute when Saif Shaker scored his first goal of the season for Orange Coast to tie the game at 1-1.  The Bobcats responded right before halftime when Andy Garcia steered home a pass from Gus Roetcisoender with his first goal of the season and a 2-1 lead in the 39^th minute.

In total, Saddleback held a 10-4 advantage in total shots in the opening 45 minutes.  The Bobcats continued the pressure in the second half, scoring an insurance goal in the 48^th minute when Garcia scored his second goal of the game on a dish from Andrew Jun to make it 3-1.

Saddleback took advantage of the situation the rest of the way and opted to give playing time to all of the sophomores.  They responded nicely, holding on to the lead while outshooting the Pirates 8-4 over the final 45 minutes.

Saddleback played Dominic DiFrenna in goal, who played all 90 minutes and recorded two saves while improving to 5-2-3 for the season.

Saddleback is now 8-5-5 overall and 5-3-4 in Orange Empire Conference play following the win.  The Bobcats are currently No. 12 in the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) in Southern California with two games remaining on the schedule.  The top 24 programs from the region qualify for the playoffs. 

Saddleback has two road games against the top two programs in the standings to finish the regular season.  The Bobcats open next week at Santa Ana College on Tuesday (2:00 PM) and then finish up at Fullerton on Friday (6:00 PM).