Cats open on a high note

The Saddleback women's soccer team opened the 2025 campaign with a 4-1 victory over MiraCosta College on Tuesday afternoon inside the stadium.  The Bobcats used close to 25 players against a MiraCosta team that entered with only 17 active players on the roster.

Saddleback showed its depth throughout, outshooting the Spartans 14-3 for the game.  The Bobcats tallied two goals in the opening half to put MiraCosta at a quick disadvantage.  Allison Lozano scored the opening goal of the game on a penalty kick after a hard foul was called inside the box on MiraCosta in the sixth minute of the game.  The Bobcats made it 2-0 in the 36^th minute when Jinan Said fed Milana McClain for a 2-0 lead.

Said put the game away in the opening 15 minutes of the second half when she notched her first goal of the season off a pass from McKenna Pugh in the 61^st minute.

MiraCosta made things interesting when they netted a goal from Kristal Hernandez in the 78^th minute to cut the Saddleback lead to 3-1.  The Bobcats answered in the final minutes when McClain netted her second goal of the game after she knocked a ball off the crossbar and headed in the rebound for a 4-1 lead.

Saddleback started Cameron Simmons in goal.  She picked up the win before giving way to Maycie Pugh in the second half.

Saddleback is now 1-0 to start the season.  The Bobcats will play next at the Mt. San Antonio College Tournament on Friday when they face Hartnell College.  The game is scheduled to kick off at 5:00 PM in Walnut.