No. 9 Canyons to Host No. 24 Mt. San Jacinto in First Round of CCCAA SoCal Regionals

By Jesse Muñoz/COC Sports Information Director

College of the Canyons will enter the postseason as the No. 9 seed in the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) Women's Soccer Southern California Regional Playoffs.

No. 9 Canyons (13-3-4, 10-1-3) will host No. 24 Mt. San Jacinto College (10-7-1, 4-5-1) at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 16 at the COC soccer facility. 

General admission tickets to Wednesday's match are $12 for adults and $8 for students (with valid I.D.), seniors over 60 and children under 10, as mandated by the CCCAA. Tickets for the game are now available here.

Wednesday's match will also be live streamed to fans free of charge via YouTube on the Cougars Sports Network.

The winner of Wednesday's match will advance to face No. 8 L.A. Pierce College (13-2-5, 7-2-3) on Saturday, Nov. 19 in second round playoff action.

A full CCCAA Southern California Regional Playoff bracket can be found here.

Canyons is playing in the postseason for an 11th consecutive season under head coach Justin Lundin. The Cougars finished second, a game back of Antelope Valley College, in the Western State Conference (WSC), South Division standings. COC and AVC played to a draw in both meetings. 

The Cougars are unbeaten in their last nine games dating back to Oct. 11, having posted a record of 6-0-3 during that span. COC has played to a home record of 5-2-3 on the year. 

Statistically, the Cougars are scoring at a rate of better than three goals per game led by sophomores Rebekah Brooks (18) and Lauryn Bailey (15). Those totals rank Brooks No. 10 in the state and Bailey at No. 21. COC sophomore Sascha Marcellin has also provided a late-season scoring surge to bring her total to five. Canyons sophomore Kyle Yuzon has handled the bulk of the goaltending responsibilities and sports a record of 8-3-3.

Mt. San Jacinto finished third in the Inland Empire Athletic Conference. The Eagles won two of their final three matches down the stretch with the loss coming at the hands of No. 1 state ranked Chaffey College on Nov. 1.

The Eagles are averaging 2.24 goals per game and have gone 5-5 in road matches this season. MSJC has been led by sophomore Chloe Baeza (8), along with freshmen Karyme Mendoza (7) and Aaliyah Sims (6). In net it has been a combination of Andrea Landeros and Nicole Molina throughout the year.

Canyons won its 2021 opening round playoff match at San Diego Mesa College by a 4-3 double overtime result. The Cougars then fell 2-1 at Mt. San Antonio College in the second round.

COC has played to a combined postseason record of 5-10 during its 11 consecutive postseason appearances.

Mt. San Jacinto is playing in the CCCAA SoCal Regional Playoffs for the first time since the 2016 season.

Stay up to date on all this season's action by following the College of the Canyons Athletic department on social media at @COCathletics on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. 

—Photo by Kyle Kawamoto/COC Sports Information