SID Poll Favors Saddleback Women's Soccer as Top Finisher

The 3C2A women's soccer season kicks up on Friday, August 23, and the programs are gearing up for another run at a state championship.  The Orange Empire Conference sports information directors conducted a poll this week to create some preseason hype.

The Orange Empire Conference (OEC) is no stranger to winning state titles, capturing three of the past five state titles and eight championships in the past 25 years of competition.  The winner of the OEC is regularly awarded one of the top seeds for the Southern California Regional Playoffs and usually considered one of the favorites to beat in the playoffs.

Saddleback starts the season as the favorites to win the OEC in 2024 as the Bobcats collected six of the eight first place votes by the SID's.  Saddleback has had two teams win or share the OEC title in the past three seasons and won a state title in 2022 when they finished second in the standings.  The Bobcats are 60-5-6 over the past three seasons, going 35-2-5 in OEC play.  Having said that, Saddleback has a ton of players to replace in 2024 after losing a numnber of starters to graduation, including seven that signed with four-year programs.  Anjelina Nieto, Isabelle Whittaker and Chloe Campagne are the top returning goal-scorers for the Bobcats.

Cypress came in second in the voting and collected one of the other two first-place votes handed out by the SID's.  The Chargers have been knocking on the door in recent years and shared the conference title with Saddleback in 2021.  Cypress has a long history in women's soccer, winning three state titles between 1998-2004.  The return of sophomores Itzel Ramirez, Jasmin Martinez, and Megan Alcantara should provide a ton of experience for the Chargers this fall.

You know a conference is loaded when Santiago Canyon comes in third in the voting.  The Hawks collected the last remaining first place vote in finishing an eyelash behind Cypress in the poll.  Santiago Canyon has arguably the best resume, historically, of any of the programs in the conference.  Santiago Canyon has won four state championships and 16 conference titles since 2004, including 15 straight Orange Empire Conference championships from 2004-2018.  Santiago Canyon last won a conference title in 2022 and appears to have a lot of returning pieces to make another run in 2024.  Leading scorer Alyssa Marino returns after tallying 10 goals a year ago as well as Samantha Aguilla (7 goals), giving SCC a bevy of returning firepower on offense.  

The race for fourth in the voting was tight as Orange Coast edged inter-district rival Golden West in the poll.  Irvine Valley, Santa Ana and Fullerton rounded out the voting.

Orange Empire Conference SID's Poll (w/first place votes):

Release by Brad Hoiseth, Saddleback