Bobcats prepare for Panthers in the finals

The Saddleback women's soccer team will play for the state championship on Sunday at American River College in Sacramento.  The Bobcats will face the Chaffey College Panthers in the title game.

Saddleback and Chaffey are both new to the title game.   Both have a member of the feline family as a mascot.  Neither has ever had an appearance in the state tournament.   Both are from Southern California.  The similarities are endless, which should provide for another close and entertaining battle for the grand prize in California's community college system.   

Saddleback lost to Chaffey, 1-0, on September 13.  In that game the Bobcats outshot the Panthers 12-6 overall and 6-3 in shots on goal.  Chaffey found the back of the net in the 55^th minute when Julia Galdamez scored her third goal of the season, and then clamped down defensively on Saddleback over the final 35+ minutes to preserve the win. 

Saddleback and Chaffey are very similar on paper.  The Bobcats are No. 8 in the state in offense, averaging 3.40 goals-per-game.  The Panthers are tied for No. 3 in the state with 3.57 goals-per-game.  Saddleback has surrendered 14 goals in 25 games while Chaffey has given up just eight goals in 24 appearances.  The Bobcats have recorded 15 shutouts during the course of the season while the Panthers have recorded 18.

Saddleback defeated Santa Monica (6-0), Cypress (1-0), Santiago Canyon (2-0) and San Joaquin Delta (3-1) to reach the state championship game.  Chaffey defeated San Diego Mesa (4-0), Canyons (2-0), Mt. San Antonio (1-0) and Fresno City (1-0). 

Saddleback has a trio of players with 10-or-more goals in Lizbeth De Loera (16), Chloe Green (14) and Kylie Beu (13).  Chaffey has a pair of players with 10-or-more goals led by Kayla Bergin (21), who is tied for fifth in the state in scoring.  Both teams have had 17 players score at least one goal during the course of the season. 

In looking for contrasts, Saddleback (20-2-3) finished in second place in the Orange Empire Conference (OEC)…a conference rich in history that now has had a team in the state finals for four straight seasons.  Chaffey (22-0-2) was the champions of the Inland Empire Conference, which is a newer conference that started playing soccer in 2019 and has never had a representative in the state finals. 

Another thing that could be a little different for both teams on Sunday is the weather.  The Bobcats played the late game on Friday when the kickoff temperature was hovering around 40 degrees and dropping quickly.  Chaffey played the early game on Friday in the semifinals in the sunlight with a start-time temperature around 47 degrees.  Sunday's matchup is slated to start at 12:00 PM with the weather forecast calling for 56 degrees and isolated showers in Sacramento. 

TIME: 12:00 PM
LOCATION:  American River College
TICKETS:  Tickets
STREAM LINK:  Stream
LIVE STATS:  Live Stats Link