Women’s Soccer: Roadrunners named No. 1 seed for Southern California Playoffs

SoCal Regionals Playoffs Bracket

The road to the 2021 women's soccer state championships will go through Whittier. On Tuesday, the Rio Hondo College Roadrunners were named the No. 1 seed for the upcoming Southern California Regional Playoffs.

As the top seed, Rio Hondo has secured home-field advantage throughout the regionals. The Roadrunners will host No. 16 San Bernardino Valley College in a first-round playoff game on Saturday (Nov. 20) at 6 p.m.

SBVC and Southwestern face off in a play-in round game on Thursday (Nov. 18) in San Bernardino.

"The team is excited to compete in the playoffs," said Rio Hondo head coach Jennifer Tanaka-Hoshijo. "We have worked hard to get a home-field advantage and look forward to playing this Saturday."

Ticket prices for the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) postseason game at the Rio Hondo College Soccer Complex are $12 for general admission and $8 for all identified students, faculty, staff, senior citizens age 60 and over, and children under 12 years old.

The Roadrunners completed another unbeaten South Coast Conference schedule, going 9-0-1 to capture the program's sixth conference title over the past seven seasons. Rio Hondo heads to the playoffs with a 15-1-2 overall record and makes its sixth straight postseason appearance.

Since suffering a loss on Sept. 17, Rio Hondo is unbeaten over its last 13 games. The Roadrunners have outscored its opponents by a 59-12 margin this season, receiving a Southern California-leading 30 goals from freshman forward Alexis Macias.

Saturday's game will mark the first meeting of the season against San Bernardino Valley. SBVC is 11-6-3 overall after winning a penalty kick shootout to get past No. 17 Southwestern College in a play-in round game on Thursday. The Wolverines finished third in the Inland Empire Athletic Conference with a 6-4-2 mark.

The winner of Saturday's Round 1 game will advance to play either No. 8 Chaffey College (16-3-1) or No. 9 Antelope Valley College (15-4-2) in a second-round contest on Tuesday, Nov. 23. Three wins are needed to advance Rio Hondo to the CCCAA Soccer State Championships on Dec. 3 & 5 at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut.

The Roadrunners are looking to return to the state championships for the first time since 2015.