OEC has been dominant heading into conference play
If the pre-conference schedule is a sign of things to come, the Orange Empire Conference (OEC) is in for an exciting race for the conference crown in 2021. The top three teams in the state in power points through Friday all come from the OEC, with a fourth team sitting in seventh in the power points.
If the pre-conference schedule is a sign of things to come, the Orange Empire Conference (OEC) is in for an exciting race for the conference crown in 2021. The top three teams in the state in power points through Friday all come from the OEC, with a fourth team sitting in seventh in the power points.
Cypress College, Santiago Canyon College and Saddleback College sit 1-2-3 in the state after combining for a 17-0 record to start the season. The three squads have outscored opponents 77-2 for the year, with Santiago Canyon and Saddleback yet to surrender a goal. Fullerton College (7) is the fourth team in the top-10 in power points, finishing 3-1-1 in pre-conference play.
Cypress is the current No. 1 in power points after beating Hartnell (2-1), Fresno City (1-0), Desert (6-0), Foothill (8-0) and Evergreen Valley (6-1). The Chargers are led by Brianna Cortez, who has 10 goals in five games.
Santiago Canyon has defeated San Bernardino Valley (2-0), Southwestern (1-0), Cerritos (6-0), East Los Angeles (7-0), Los Angeles Harbor (6-0) and Antelope Valley (4-0) to start the season. The Hawks are the defending state champions and led by Jasmine Ferman, who has five goals on the season.
Saddleback has won games against Cerritos (7-0), MiraCosta (8-0), Mt. San Jacinto (10-0), Long Beach City (1-0), Chaffey (2-0) and San Diego Mesa (2-0). The Bobcats have an OEC-leading 30 goals for the year, with Maliyah Medley leading the way with nine.
Fullerton should also be in the mix after starting the year 3-1-1. The Hornets' lone loss was a 0-3 setback to Mt. San Antonio. Fullerton has recorded wins over Southwestern (4-2), El Camino (2-1) and Rio Hondo (3-1), and opened the season with a scoreless tie against Long Beach City. Ashley Bautista leads the Hornets with four goals on the season.
Orange Empire Conference play opens on Tuesday with Orange Coast at Santiago Canyon, Irvine Valley at Cypress, Golden West at Fullerton and Santa Ana at Saddleback.
Release by Brad Hoiseth, Saddleback SID