Women’s Soccer: Tanaka-Hoshijo named SCC Fall Women’s Coach of the Year
Despite not having played a game since late November, the honors continue to come in for the Rio Hondo College women’s soccer team. On Monday, Roadrunner head coach Jennifer Tanaka-Hoshijo was named the South Coast Conference Fall Women’s Coach of the Year by conference athletic directors.
Despite not having played a game since late November, the honors continue to come in for the Rio Hondo College women's soccer team. On Monday, Roadrunner head coach Jennifer Tanaka-Hoshijo was named the South Coast Conference Fall Women's Coach of the Year by conference athletic directors.
Tanaka-Hoshijo guided the Raodrunners to a 15-2-3 overall record and a perfect 8-0 in South Coast Conference play to capture the SCC championship. 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 title and ended the Falcons' 13-year run of consecutive South Coast Conference championships.
Rio Hondo was ranked as high as No. 10 in the nation and made its fifth straight postseason appearance, earning the Southern California Regional Playoffs' No. 2 seed.
The Roadrunners totaled 11 All-South Coast Conference postseason awards, sweeping the top three honors as sophomore Vivian Viramontes was named the Offensive Player of the Year, freshman Brianna Valdez took home Defensive Player of the Year honors, and Tanaka-Hoshijo was tabbed the SCC Coach of the Year.
Even more impressive than its play on the soccer field was the program's academic success in the classroom. Rio Hondo earned its seventh United Soccer Coaches Association Team Academic Award while six members of the squad received CCCSCA Scholar-Athlete team recognition by earning over 24 units and a 3.3 minimum GPA. As a program in the fall semester, 17 women's soccer student-athletes achieved a 3.0 GPA or better while seven of those obtained over a 3.5 GPA.
Monday's selection marked the first time that conference ADs selected a fall and spring sports coach of the year. Also announced were the South Coast Conference Supremacy final standings for the 2019-20 sports season. Rio Hondo totaled 58 points to finish in sixth place. Mt. San Antonio College was first with 114 points, followed by Long Beach City College with 111, and Cerritos with 91.