Gauchos buzz Hornets at the end

The Saddleback women's soccer team recorded its ninth shutout of the season on Friday with a 1-0 victory over Fullerton College in Fullerton.  The Gauchos and Hornets were scoreless until the 83^rd minute when Saddleback broke through for the game-winner.

Saddleback was coming off an emotional high of beating perennial power Cypress for the second time this season on Tuesday so it would only stand to reason that they would suffer a bit of a letdown.  The Gauchos were facing Fullerton, a program buried in fifth place and likely to miss the playoffs.

Saddleback looked tired, unable to make a lot of rushes and looking a bit lethargic.  The Gauchos finally got rolling in the second half and found the back of the net when Sabrina Garrido (pictured) headed a pass from Liana Larkins in the 83^rd minute, turning back a Hornet program that was thinking upset.

Saddleback's win kept them in sole possession of second place in the Orange Empire Conference, five points back of Santiago Canyon and one point ahead of Cypress.  The Gauchos are now 12-3-1 overall and 8-2-1 in Orange Empire Conference play.  The 12 wins is just three shy of the program record (15) set back in 2003. 

It was also the ninth shutout of the season as Angelica Ramos stopped all four shots she faced.  The nine shutouts is three shy of the record (12) set in 2003.

Saddleback will try to keep things rolling on Tuesday when they host Norco College.  The kickoff is set for 3:00 PM in the stadium.   The Gauchos defeated Norco 2-0 on September 25 in the first meeting of the season.