The Rio Hondo College men's soccer team couldn't repeat its success over Santa Monica College and ultimately had its season come to an end following the No. 8-seeded Roadrunners' 2-1 loss to the visiting No. 9-seed Corsairs on Saturday in an opening-round game of the 2017 Southern California Regional Playoffs.
Earlier in the season, Rio Hondo edged Santa Monica on the road by a final score of 1-0. And on Saturday, the Roadrunners jumped ahead early to take a 1-0 lead thanks to the goal by Abel Machuca off the assist from Carlos Zarate in the 27th minute.
But Santa Monica got the equalizer in the 37th minute to send the game into halftime tied at 1-1. And midway through the second half, SMC's Cesar Oliva broke up the deadlock and tallied the eventual game-winning goal in the 62nd minute.
Rio Hondo closed the 2017 season with an 11-6-6 overall record and finished in third place in the final South Coast Conference North Division standings with a 4-3-1 mark. The Roadrunners made their sixth playoff appearance since 2010 under head coach Orlando Brenes.