Bobcats settle for a tie

The Saddleback men's soccer team finished in a 2-2 tie with Golden West College on Tuesday inside the stadium.  The Bobcats gave up two late goals in the game.

Saddleback had control after scoring two goals in the second half for a 2-0 lead.  The Bobcats recorded an own goal off a Ryan Mann throw-in when Golden West inadvertently headed a ball into their own net for a 1-0 lead.  Saddleback made it 2-0 less than six minutes later when they had a player taken down inside the box and were awarded with a penalty kick.  Joel Smith took the kick and was initially stopped before hammering home the rebound for his sixth goal of the season in the 59^th minute. 

Unfortunately, the lead wouldn't last.  Golden West made it 2-1 in the 71^st minute when Francisco Viera netted his seventh goal of the season.  The Rustlers then scored in the final minutes of the game off a corner kick when Lucas Chavez took a rebound and put it into the back of the net to tie the game.

Saddleback controlled the pace of the game for the first 70 minutes, outshooting the Rustlers 18-10 for the day.  Golden West then put a lot of pressure on the Saddleback defense in the final 20 minutes, creating offensive opportunities.  The Rustlers eventually made it pay off with the two late goals.

Saddleback is now 4-2-2 overall and 1-1-1 in Orange Empire Conference play.  The Bobcats will play again on Friday when they travel to Fullerton College to take on the No. 1 ranked team in the state.  Saddleback and Fullerton are scheduled to start at 6:00 PM in Fullerton.