Cats stun Hawks for third straight OEC title

The Saddleback women's soccer team defeated Santiago Canyon College, 1-0, on Friday afternoon to win the Orange Empire Conference (OEC) championship.  It is the third straight OEC title for the Bobcats and the fourth in the past five seasons. 

Saddleback and Santiago Canyon had circled the date on the calendar early in the season and were on an obvious collision course since the midway point of the OEC schedule.  The two teams came into the final game deadlocked in the standings, so it would only stand to reason that it would end with high drama. 

The teams were scoreless through regulation when Saddleback stunned the home crowd as Jinan Said rang the bell with a shot in injury time to give the Bobcats a 1-0 lead.  It was Said's team-leading 11^th goal of the season and came on the heels of a missed opportunity on a penalty kick in the 76^th minute.  It would be the final scoring chance for either team as the official blew the final whistle shortly after the ensuing kickoff.

Santiago Canyon finished with an 18-12 advantage in total shots for the game.  Maycie Pugh was solid in goal, stopping all nine shots on goal in improving to 10-2-3 for the season.

Saddleback finishes the regular season 15-2-3 overall and 10-1-3 in Orange Empire Conference.  The Bobcats are expected to be the top seed when the playoff pairings are announced on Sunday afternoon.

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