Cats just short in state semis

The Saddleback women's soccer season came to a close on Friday night with a 1-0 loss against Folsom Lake College in the semifinals of the 3C2A State Tournament.  The Bobcats played even with the defending champs for most of the night but ended up on the wrong side of the scoreboard.

Saddleback and Folsom were tied at 0-0 at the half as Saddleback had a defensive game plan to stop a Folsom Lake program that came into the matchup averaging 5.3 goals-per-game coming into the contest.  Folsom had a 6-1 lead in total shots for the half, but had zero shots that threatened the back of the net as the Bobcat defense had all the answers in their own end.

Folsom Lake came out of the locker room and started to pressure the Saddleback defense to start the second half.  The pressure paid off as the Bobcats made one mistake in the 56^th minute when there was a mad scramble in front of their own goal.  Saddleback tried to clear the ball out of the box, but it glanced off the foot of one of the defenders and ended up in the back of the net.  The unfortunate bounce gave Folsom Lake a 1-0 lead and proved to be the difference maker in the game.

Saddleback ramped up the pressure over the final 20 minutes in an attempt to get the equalizer.  The Bobcats had a tremendous chance in the 89^th minute when they were awarded a free kick just outside the penalty box after Anjelina Nieto was taken down by a Folsom Lake defender.  Emery Simis took the kick, which looked as if it was headed for the upper left part of the net when the hand of Folsom Lake goalkeeper Linnea Sybersma came out of nowhere to deflect the ball off the crossbar. 

Saddleback made every attempt to get a goal down the stretch, but Folsom Lake killed the clock along the sidelines.  The Bobcats outshot the Falcons 5-0 in the second half but couldn't get the equalizer before the referee eventually whistled the game complete.

Saddleback finishes the season 18-3-3.  It was the second appearance in the state tournament in the past three seasons.  The Bobcats also captured the Orange Empire Conference championship for the third time in the past four years.