Coming off a disappointing regular season finale, the Rio Hondo women’s soccer team were definitely ready to move on to the next phase of the season. The Rio Hondo College women’s soccer team began their postseason run Saturday, Nov. 18 at the Roadrunners athletics field.  They hosted and defeated the Citrus College Owls 3-1 to advance further in the Southern California Community College Athletics Association Regionals.

The Rio Hondo women came into this game as a no. 7 seed while the Owls came into this game as the no. 10 seed. Rio Hondo was the favorite as they came in with an 11-3-5 overall record and a record of 4-2-2 in the South Coast Conference at second place. The Citrus College Owls ended the regular season with an overall record of 10-6-4 overall and a 2-4-2 mark in the Western State Conference-East division that earned them fourth place in the WSC East.

The Roadrunners and the Owls both didn’t finish the season strong. With just their second win in six tries, the Rio Hondo women proved Citrus were the inferior team. Head coach Jennifer Tanaka is making her fifth straight playoff appearance and looking to take her team back to the state championships as she did in 2015.

Freshman defender Marissa Morales cashed in on an assist from another freshman defender Viviana Ramirez while freshman forward Serina Vargas continued her excellence on the season with two goals of her own. They came on assists from freshman defender Jacqueline Torres-Espinoza, and Morales. The Rio women look to continue their playoff run against Santiago Canyon today on the road.

In their first game, the Santiago Canyon Hawks made easy work of Golden West College in a 3-0 win with Santiago as the locala. Seeded at no. 2, the Hawks will be expected to win this evening.

The Rio Hondo Roadrunners will have their hands full as they will come in as the underdog against an undefeated Hawks team.