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image c/o Kali Salazar
image c/o Kali Salazar

Cats top Warriors in non-conference battle

The Saddleback women's soccer team picked up a win on Friday with a 1-0 decision over El Camino College inside the stadium.  Aubrey Perez scored off a free kick for the game-winner.

Saddleback started slowly and nearly fell behind when El Camino dashed down the field and hit the goal post in the opening 30 seconds of the game.  After that, Saddleback settled down and played the Warriors even throughout the rest of the half.

Saddleback and El Camino were scoreless through 45 minutes and things couldn't have been tighter.  Both teams had five shots on goal in the opening frame, none of which threatened to go in the net after the opening shot hitting the goal post.

Saddleback came out of the locker with a sense of purpose, putting pressure on the El Camino defense.  Eventually the Bobcats broke through when Perez took a free kick from five yards outside the box and slipped it past the Warrior keeper for the lead in the 68th minute (picture below).

From that point forward, Saddleback rotated players onto the field and seemed to wear out the Warriors.  The Bobcats outshot El Camino 11-2 in the final 45 minutes, with a number of solid scoring chances.

El Camino played hard to the end, nearly scoring the tying goal in the final minutes on a shot that was steered aside by Saddleback keeper Cameron Simmons.  The freshman from Aliso Niguel would finish with six saves for the game in improving to 2-1 on the season.

Saddleback is now 3-2-1 overall for the year.  The Bobcats open Orange Empire Conference a week from Tuesday (October 1) versus Irvine Valley College.  Saddleback and IVC are scheduled to start at 3:00 PM inside the stadium.