Santiago Canyon College Goes Unbeaten to Claim Conference Title
The Hawks found themselves winners of all but two games, a pair of ties, as they cruised to their 11th straight Orange Empire Conference Championship
With just back-to-back ties in the middle of Orange Empire Conference competition, the Santiago Canyon College Hawks extended their conference championship streak to 11 consecutive seasons with a 14-0-2 record.
Overall, the Hawks posted 11 shutouts in 16 OEC games while never allowing more than one goal in any of their contests. The two ties came on October 10 and 14 with second-place Cypress College playing SCC to a 1-1 tie before Saddleback College played the champs to a scoreless tie.
Cypress College was nearly as proficient at keeping its opponents from scoring as the Chargers allowed just seven goals in conference, behind SCC's five. Cypress finished conference play with a 10-3-3 record to claim second place.
Following the Chargers was Irvine Valley College as the Lasers went 9-3-4 in conference. Saddleback was next in fourth place, just one point ahead of Golden West College. Orange Coast College claimed sixth place while Fullerton College finished two points back in seventh place.
Wrapping up the standings were Santa Ana College in eighth place and Norco College in ninth place.
The Orange Empire Conference went on to send five teams to the CCCAA Southern Regional Playoffs, led by top-seeded Santiago Canyon College. Cypress received the six-seed and Irvine Valley the 11-seed. Saddleback received the 14-seed and Golden West made a strong push at the end of the season to grab the 18-seed.