Orange Empire Soccer Race Is a Close Call

The top four men’s soccer teams are within two points of one another as the Orange Empire Conference race nears the halfway point.

Rancho Santiago (3-0-2) and Irvine Valley (3-1-2) top the conference race with eight points each. Teams get two points for a victory and one for a tie.

Riverside (3-1-1) is third with seven points and Fullerton (2-1-2) is fourth with six. Orange Coast (2-3), the defending state champion, is fifth. Golden West (1-3-1) is sixth and Cypress (0-5) seventh.

Rancho Santiago plays host to Irvine Valley at 3 p.m. Friday to start the second round.

But the Dons have a chance to take the lead outright today when they travel to Fullerton. Irvine Valley has already completed the first round.

There is hardly such drama building in the Orange Empire women’s soccer race.

Cypress, the preseason favorite, has dominated the competition. The Chargers (6-0) have outscored opponents 59-3 overall and 27-1 in conference.

Orange Coast (3-2-1) is second, Irvine Valley (3-2) third, Palomar (1-3-1) fourth and Golden West (0-6) fifth.

Irvine Valley has the next chance to knock off Cypress in a 2:30 p.m. match today at Irvine Valley.

Saddleback rolls: The Gauchos remained the top-ranked football team in the Southland Poll this week.

Saddleback improved to 6-0 with a 41-12 thrashing of Fullerton Saturday and will be the obvious favorite when the Gauchos plays host to San Diego Mesa (1-4) at 7 p.m. Saturday.

Pasadena (6-0) is second in the poll, Mt. San Antonio (5-1) third, El Camino (4-1) fourth, San Bernardino Valley (5-0-1) fifth, Orange Coast (4-1) sixth, Moorpark (4-0-1) seventh, LA Harbor (5-0) eighth, Palomar (4-1) ninth and Glendale (4-1) 10th.

Orange Coast and El Camino meet at 7 p.m. Saturday at El Camino in what will perhaps be the most evenly matched game of the week.

Scoreboard scuffle: It’s amazing how little things like a malfunctioning scoreboard can ruin a night for some. Such was the case at Saddleback College Saturday.

Saddleback’s Devon Higgins kicked a field goal that gave the Gauchos a 13-6 lead early in the second quarter, but the number on the scoreboard looked more like a 19 because of some lights that are always lit.

Several Fullerton fans seated near the press trailer were unnerved at what appeared to be an incorrect score and demanded that it be fixed. One woman even went so far as to mockingly suggest using a shotgun to correct the problem.

Despite being told of the scoreboard’s ills, the fans continued to protest from time to time the rest of the quarter. A few fans and even an official came up at halftime to mention the score looked wrong.

The exasperated scoreboard operator finally got a moment of revenge at the suggestion of others in the trailer. When Saddleback scored a touchdown early in the third quarter, he changed the score to 25 for just a few seconds, which caused many an angry look from the Fullerton side. It was then switched back quickly to the correct 19.

Water polo: Cypress plays host to a 12-team tournament Friday and Saturday.

The teams are split into four brackets and play twice Friday. In Friday’s games featuring Orange County teams: Golden West, the top-ranked team in the state, plays Saddleback at 9 a.m.; Golden West plays Fullerton at 12:20 p.m.; Cuesta plays Cypress at 2:50 p.m.; Fullerton plays Saddleback at 3:40 p.m., and Cypress plays DeAnza at 6:10 p.m.

The tournament moves into championship-round play Saturday, and the title game is scheduled to start at 6:10 p.m.

Community College Notes

First-year Orange Coast baseball Coach John Altobelli has selected his assistant coaches. He will be joined by former Southern California College coach Doug Adams, former UC Irvine standout Stacy Parker and former Cal State Fullerton pitcher Chad Dembisky.