Bobcats impress in playoff opener

The Saddleback women's soccer team opened the playoffs with a 4-0 win over Long Beach City College on Saturday night inside the Saddleback stadium.  The Bobcats advance to the second round on Tuesday night against Ventura College.

Saddleback showed no rust after an eight day layoff, dominating Long Beach City from start to finish.  The Bobcats scored two goals in the opening four minutes of the game in cruising to a 4-0 win.

Lacy Ruston scored just 87 seconds into the game when she took a rebound off a shot from Maliyah Medley and blasted it into the net for a 1-0 lead.  It was Ruston's fifth goal of the season and will go down as the game-winning goal despite only a handful of seconds running off the clock.  Two minutes later it was 2-0 after Mia Wood connected on a rebound for her first goal of the season, and the Bobcats were off and running.

Saddleback added another goal at the 38-minute mark when Emma Snow scored off a pass from Medley for a 3-0 lead.  The Bobcats added a goal in the 58^th minute when Medley scored her team-leading 22^nd goal of the season with the assist going to Lizbeth De Loera.  The 22nd goal by Medley tied her for second all-time in program history for goals in a season with Danielle Allen, who scored 22 in 2014.  Danielle Allen also holds the program record of 28 during the 2013 campaign.  

Saddleback's defense silenced the Vikings for the majority of the game.  The back line of Rylie Laisy (pictured), Mia Wood, Averee Campos and Isabella Messina held Long Beach City to three shots on goal, all of which were handled easily by Olivia Wynn.

The win advanced Saddleback (18-1-2) to the second round of the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) Southern California Regional Tournament where they will met Ventura College (16-3-3), who was a 1-0 winner over Los Angeles Pierce College on Saturday night.  The Bobcats and Pirates are scheduled to start on Tuesday night at 7:00 PM inside the Saddleback stadium.