Cats beat Hawks in final game of regular season

The Saddleback men's soccer team closed out the regular season on a two-game winning streak after beating Santiago Canyon College, 3-1, on Friday afternoon inside the stadium.  The Bobcats controlled the pace of the game throughout.

Saddleback and Santiago Canyon both finished off the regular season with no hopes of qualifying for the post-season, so pride was on the line as the two squads laced them up for the last time in 2025.  The Bobcats had a solid performance, finishing off the season on a high note.

Saddleback fell behind 1-0 when Santiago Canyon made good on its best opportunity of the opening half as Brayden Cerminelli slid a ball past Cam Caveney in the 27^th minute for a 1-0 lead.  Saddleback answered quickly when Gus Roetcisoender took a feed from Diego de la Riva and beat the Santiago Canyon keeper in the 31^st minute to tie the score at 1-1.  It was Roetcisoender's third goal of the season.

Saddleback road the momentum and scored again in the 40^th minute when Alexander Fafilek made a pinpoint pass in front of the net for Ayden DeRosier, who slammed home his first goal of the season for a 2-1 lead.  Saddleback led 12-3 in total shots in the half as they went to the locker room up 2-1 at the break.

The two teams were scoreless for most of the second half until Saddleback put the game away in the 86^th minute.  Pedro Castillo took a feed from Jason Starcks and buried his second goal of the season to put the game out of reach.

Saddleback finishes the regular season with two straight wins.  The Bobcats improved to 6-12-2 overall and 5-8-1 in Orange Empire Conference play with the win.  The win gives Saddleback fifth place in conference play.