A preseason goal of Rio Hondo College women's soccer head coach Jennifer Tanaka-Hoshijo can be checked off ̶ winning a conference title.
On Friday, the No. 10-nationally ranked Roadrunners completed a perfect 8-0 run through the South Coast Conference schedule to capture the 2019 SCC title. Rio Hondo ended the regular season having won nine games in a row, including a 3-0 victory over Cerritos College on Oct. 25 that gave the Roadrunners an outright conference championship and ended the Falcons 13-year run of consecutive South Coast Conference championships.
For Tanaka-Hoshijo, the Roadrunners won their third SCC championship (2016, 2017, 2019) and fifth conference title over the last six season after capturing consecutive Foothill Conference championships (2014, 2015) before making the move to the SCC.
The Roadrunners hosted Pasadena City College in their regular-season finale on Friday and cruised to a 5-0 victory. Rio Hondo led 3-0 at halftime thanks to goals from Serina Vargas (35th), Estephania Toni Gonzalez (41st), and Vivian Viramontes (43rd). Viramontes (47th) and Vargas (54th) added second-half goals to close out the scoring.
Making just her second start of the season, backup goalkeeper Cheyenne Tucker made six saves for the Roadrunners to earn the shutout.
The Rio Hondo defense has been outstanding over the winning streak and hasn't allowed a goal over its last six games. Overall, the Roadrunners have shutouts in 12 games this season. The offense has been just as good, outscoring its opponents by a 51-9 margin during the regular season.
The Roadrunners will be making their fifth straight postseason appearance and will learn their opponent for the upcoming Southern California Regional Playoffs on Tuesday at the SoCal postseason coaches meeting. Rio Hondo heads to the playoffs with a 15-1-3 overall record and currently holds the No. 2 spot behind unbeaten Cypress College (17-0-3) in the Southern California Power Points ranking.
The Southern California Regional Playoffs begin on Nov. 23.