Gauchos get sweet 16th against IVC

The Saddleback women's soccer team is readying for the upcoming playoffs and finished up the regular season with a 3-1 win over Irvine Valley College on Friday in Irvine.  The win was number 16 for the year…setting a new program record.

Saddleback (16-3-2) will find out on Tuesday where it is seeded for the Southern California playoffs, which start next week.  Before that, they had to put some finishing touches on what is now the best regular season in program history.  The win on Friday eclipsed the 15-win season in 2003 when the Gauchos finished 15-4-2, losing in the opening round of the playoffs.

Saddleback scored quickly with a goal in the sixth minute as Breanna Taboada drove a free kick into the back of the net.  It was the 11^th goal of the season for Taboada and sent the Gauchos into the locker room with a 1-0 lead at the intermission.

Irvine Valley (6-12-2) made it game in the opening minute of the second half when Johana Abarca beat Saddleback keeper Angelica Ramos on a header to tie the game at 1-1.

Saddleback answered quickly, scoring two goals in a five-minute span for a commanding 3-1 lead.    Wendy Dina scored her first goal of the season in the 63^rd minute to give the Gauchos a 2-1 lead before Emilee Monnig notched her team-leading 15^th of the season in the 67^th minute to finish off the scoring. 

Saddleback finished the Orange Empire Conference schedule at 12-2-2.  They were two points behind conference champion Santiago Canyon College and three points in front of third place Cypress College.  The Gauchos entered Friday's game with the #8 Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) in the state and #6 in Southern California.

Keep it tuned to saddlebackgauchos.com for all the latest news regarding a soccer playoff seed on Tuesday and be sure to follow the Gaucho Dude @SCGauchos on Twitter.