Gauchos destroy Mustangs to gain ground

The Saddleback women's soccer team exploded past Norco College on Tuesday afternoon at the stadium, scoring four first half goals en route to an 9-2 win over the Mustangs.  The Gauchos gained ground on first place Santiago Canyon, who finished with a 1-1 tie against Cypress.

Saddleback made things look easy facing a program that has now lost 13 straight games.  The Gauchos received four goals from Emilee Monnig, tying a single-game program record.

Saddleback scored four first-half goals to jump out to a 4-0 lead and actually led 8-0 at one point during the second half.  The Gauchos received goals from Danielle Scelsi, Amber Martin and two from Monnig, outshooting the Mustangs 14-6 in the opening half.  Monnig scored her third of the game in the 62^nd minute to give Saddleback a 7-0 lead and finished the scoring with her fourth of the game in the 84^th minute for a 9-2 lead.  Other goals in the half came from Brittany Bartle, Sabrina Garrido and Kylie Vazquez.

Monnig's four goals makes her just the third person in program history to score four in a game.  Stacy McDonald scored four in a game back in 2001 while Danyelle Allen scored four in a game on four separate occasions in 2013 (2) and 2014 (2).   Monnig now has a team-leading 13 goals on the season, moving her into the top-15 in the state.

The nine goals by Saddleback ties a program record set in 2003 when the Gauchos beat Golden West 9-0. 

Saddleback is now 13-3-1 overall and 9-2-1 in Orange Empire Conference play.  The Gauchos are three points back of Santiago Canyon in the standings with four games remaining on the schedule. 

Saddleback will look to improve on its record on Friday when it hosts Golden West College at 3:00 PM.  The Gauchos will also be looking for revenge after losing to the Rustlers 2-1 on September 29.