No. 9 Cougars Head to Third Round of Playoffs vs. No. 1 Chaffey College

Story and photo by Mari Kneisel/COC Sports Information    

For the first time in College of the Canyon's women soccer history, the Lady Cougars are playing in the third round of the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) Southern California Regional Playoffs.  

No. 9 Canyons (15-3-5) achieved the program first with a 2-1 road win against No. 8 L.A. Pierce College on Saturday.

The Cougars will now do battle with host No. 1 Chaffey College at 2 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 22 in Rancho Cucamonga. 

General admission tickets to Tuesday's match are $12 for adults and $8 for students (valid with I.D.), seniors over 60 and children under 10, as mandated by the CCCAA. Tickets will be cash only. 

COC head coach Justin Lundin leads the Cougars into this historic round but is also making an 11th consecutive appearance in postseason play.  

The Cougars have remained unbeaten in their last 11 matches posting a record of 8-0-3 during that span, two of those draws against conference champion Antelope Valley College, leaving Canyons to take second in the Western State Conference (WSC) South Division. 

No. 11 AVC's postseason came to an end Saturday night after a 2-0 loss to No. 6 Cypress College.

Chaffey (19-0-2) has not dropped a game all season with two ties attributed to non-conference games against No. 7 Santa Barbara City College and No. 5 Long Beach City College.  

The Cougars have faced Chaffey in five of the last six seasons with the Panthers coming away victorious in each meeting. The two teams have yet to meet in postseason competition. COC and Chaffey were scheduled to square off in the 2022 regular season but had that match postponed once due to weather and again due to fire related air quality concerns.

The Panthers are averaging just under four goals per game while the Cougars sit just above three per game. 

Chaffey sophomore forward Kayla Bergin will challenge the Cougars' back line as she is tied for ninth in the state for most goals at 19. Freshman Panther Sydney Cotter has netted 10 scores on the season. 

The Cougars will be looking toward sophomore Rebekah Brooks, ranked No. 5 in the state with 21 goals, and sophomore midfielder Lauryn Bailey, with 15 goals, to put pressure on the Panthers' defense. 

However, both teams have seen a number of goals from many different players throughout the season.

The Panthers are backed by sophomore goalkeeper Autumn Gomez (12-0-1). Gomez retains the eighth ranking in state with a save percentage of .884. 

COC's goalkeeper Kylie Yuzon (10-3-3) sits only a few behind ranked 15th in the state with a save percentage of .828. 

The winner of Tuesday's match will advance to the CCCAA Southern California Regional final four to face the winner between No. 4 Mt. San Antonio College (19-1-1) vs. No. 5 Long Beach City College (16-2-3) on Saturday, Nov. 26.

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.