Gauchos hammer IVC to hold spot in standings

The Saddleback women's soccer team defeated crosstown rival Irvine Valley College, 4-1, on Tuesday afternoon at the Saddleback Stadium.  The Gauchos remain in second place in the Orange Empire Conference standings, inching closer to Santiago Canyon.

Saddleback is officially in the hunt for the OEC title, which is something they haven't been able to say in years.  The Gauchos gained three points on Santiago Canyon on Tuesday, moving within two points of the Hawks in the race for the prestigious OEC title.

Amber Martin (pictured) had a big day for Saddleback, opening the scoring with an unassisted goal in the 7^th minute for a 1-0 lead.  She then fed Helene Hollidge in the 11^th minute for a 2-0 lead before providing an assist for Emilee Monnig in the 42th minute for a commanding 3-0 lead.  Breanna Taboada finished off the first-half barrage with an unassisted goal in the 45^th minute, sending a message to Irvine Valley and the rest of the OEC that the morning, national ranking of #8 by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America was no fluke.

Saddleback completely dominated play in the first half, outshooting the Lasers 11-2 on a hot and sticky day in South Orange County.  The only thing left to find out in the second half was whether or not the Gauchos would pick up their ninth shutout of the season, which was eventually denied in the 90^th minute when IVC broke through with a goal from Christina Anderson.

Saddleback improved to 10-2-1 overall and 6-1-1 in Orange Empire Conference play.  The Gauchos now have 19 points in the standings, two points back of Santiago Canyon and one point ahead of Cypress, who defeated Fullerton 6-0 on Tuesday.

Saddleback will look to run its winning streak to four games on Friday when it plays Orange Coast College.  The kickoff is set for 7:00 PM at OCC.