OC Face Early Challenges

The Lions have had their challenges early. Two games into the season their are still looking for their first goal and their first victory. They have faced Buena which has recently moved to Div 1 after dominating the CIF SS Div 2 and is Ventura County's premier program. Then they faced Canyon (Canyon Country) which is a CIF SS Div 2 powerhouse program. If the quality of the opponents is not tough enough, they played both teams short-handed. The Lions were missing the top 3 returning scorers Nicole Sweetman, Kelsea Smith and Hannah MacKechnie. Nicole and Kelsea have not been avaialable due to club commitments and Hannah is resting a ankle injury.

The storm is not over with a visit to Valencia (Valencia), a Div 2 team, that has never lost to OC and Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks) a Div 1 program on the schedule this week. The Lions will travel to Valencia Wed, Dec 6th and host Notre Dame Thu, Dec 7th.

Currently OC girls soccer is on a three game losing streak, openning this season with losses to Buena and Canyon added to last season's loss to Granite Hills in the CIF SS Semifinals. The loss to GH prevented OC from qualifying for its fourth consecutive CIF SS Final. This is only the second time in OC history that they have lost three in a row, the last time came in 2002. Spring of 2002 in the CIF SS Quarterfinals OC had its 22 consecutive game winning streak stopped when they lost to eventual champions Pasadena Poly. The next Fall the season openned with three consecutive losses (Valencia, St Bonaventure and Atascadero) to extend the streak to four straight losses. OC rebounded and ended the 2002-2003 season with the first of its four Frontier League titles and the first of its three consecutive CIF SS titles. Not to mention started a 47 game undefeated streak versus CIF SS D5 schools.

With Valencia and Notre Dame coming up next the Lions may still have some tough times, but will likely respond to the lessons as a result.

History:
OC vs. Valencia, 0-2-2 (w-l-t)
OC vs. Notre Dame, 1-0-0