The Orange Empire Conference has long been one of the elite conferences for women's soccer in the state of California. The OEC has won three of the past four state titles, with nine championships since becoming a recognized sport in 1988.
Last season Saddleback jumped into the winner's circle, winning its first state title in program history. Santiago Canyon won four state titles over a 14-year period from 2006 to 2019. Previous to that, Cypress was a power around the turn of the century when it won three titles in seven years and Orange Coast was the first OEC program to record a state championship in 1989.
The sports information directors in the conference conducted its annual poll this week, which shows we should be in for another tight race. When all was said and done, Saddleback held a slight edge over Santiago Canyon with Cypress lurking.
Saddleback finished in second place behind Santiago Canyon a season ago but the Bobcats got sweet revenge when it beat the Hawks in the regional finals to advance to the state tournament. Saddleback ended up cashing in, scoring victories over San Joaquin Delta College and Chaffey College to hoist the trophy. The Bobcats lost a lot to graduation when six different players signed with four-year schools, including four to the NCAA Division I level. Fortunately for them, a lot of components are still there and Saddleback looks primed to make another run. The Bobcats picked up three first place votes and four second place votes among the SID's this week.
Santiago Canyon finished second on the SID's ballots but have been considered one of the favorites for nearly 20 years. The Hawks won 15 straight conference titles from 2004-2018 and have played in the state finals six times since 2007. Santiago Canyon picked up three first place votes among the sports information director to go along with two second place votes.
Cypress was co-champions with Saddleback two seasons ago and the Chargers are starting to look like an annual contender. Cypress gave up just six goals in conference play a season ago but came up short against Saddleback in the regional playoffs when the Bobcats scored in the final 12 minutes for a 1-0 win. Like Saddleback, Cypress lost a lot to graduation with five players moving on to the four-year level. However, a solid group of incoming players has them ready to make another run. Cypress garnered one first place vote amongst the voters to go along with one second place vote and five third place votes.
The next three teams in the poll are also tight, with Golden West holding off both Orange Coast and Fullerton for fourth place. Santa Ana and Irvine Valley rounded out the voting.
OEC SID'S PRESEASON POLL (first place votes in parenthesis):
- Saddleback 52 (3)
- Santiago Canyon 50 (3)
- Cypress 45 (1)
- Golden West 30
- Orange Coast 29
- Fullerton 24
- Santa Ana 15
- Irvine Valley 7
Release by Brad Hoiseth, Saddleback SID