Conference titles to be had
The annual confluence of the four major professional sports also means college fall sports are winding down, while college basketball is right around the corner.
It’s title time this week for some fall sports, with Golden West College (22-0) already sealing the deal with a victory over Riverside, its final Orange Empire Conference men’s water polo victim, on Wednesday.
Coach Scott Taylor’s Rustlers will be the top seed in the conference tournament, Nov. 4-5 at Saddleback.
Next are the Southern California Championships (Nov. 11-12 at Golden West) and the state championships (Nov. 18-19 at Las Positas College in Livermore).
UCI eyes crown
UC Irvine shares the lead in the Big West Conference with two women’s soccer games remaining. Coach Scott Juniper’s Anteaters are 12-5-1, 4-1-1 in conference, heading into a home contest against Hawaii on Friday at 7 p.m. and the regular-season finale on Sunday at Cal State Fullerton at 2 p.m.
Cal State Northridge (also 4-1-1 in conference) finishes with home matches against Cal State Fullerton (Friday) and Hawaii (Sunday). The Matadors own the tiebreaker advantage with UCI, having won their head-to-head meeting, 1-0.
UCI won back-to-back conference regular-season titles in 2010 and 2011.
The Big West Tournament is at Long Beach State, with semifinals on Thursday and the final on Nov. 6.
Lions hold edge
The Vanguard women’s soccer team is alone atop the Golden State Athletic Conference standings with one regular-season game remaining.
Coach Randy Dodge’s Lions (13-3, 8-1 in conference), ranked No. 9 in the NAIA, play host to the Master’s on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. A victory would clinch the program’s third GSAC crown in the last five seasons and extend its winning streak to six.
The Lions won eight straight (all shutouts) before falling, 1-0, to Biola (13-0-1, 7-0-1), which sits in second place and may fail to win a conference crown even while being undefeated. The conference awards three points for a win and one for a tie, leaving the Eagles, who visit William Jessup on Saturday, two points behind Vanguard.
Vanguard has already secured a first-round bye in the GSAC Tournament, which will hold its semifinals (Nov. 10) and final (Nov. 12) at Biola.
Rustlers tied at top
The Golden West men’s soccer team is tied atop the OEC with four conference games left.
Coach Alex Gimenez’s Rustlers (11-0-5, 7-0-3) fell into a first-place tie after playing to a 0-0 tie at last-place Norco on Tuesday.
Golden West and Irvine Valley (8-2 in conference) both have 24 points. The Rustlers play host to IVC on Nov. 8.
Golden West defeated IVC, 2-1, in their first meeting on Oct. 7.
‘Eaters men picked second
The UCI men’s basketball team was picked second in the preseason Big West media poll.
Coach Russell Turner’s Anteaters, who shared the conference regular-season title last season and also won it in 2014, are coming off a school-record 28 wins and a berth in the CollegeInsider.com postseason tournament final.
Long Beach State topped the poll with 19 first-place votes and 203 points, while UCI had one first-place vote and 158 points.
Cal State Northridge was third with two first-place votes and 155 points.
Senior guard Luke Nelson, a first-team all-conference performer as a junior when he led the ‘Eaters with 13.7 points per game, is on the preseason all-conference squad.
Nelson leads all active Big West players in career points (1,226), assists (361) and steals (115).
UCI has a home exhibition game on Nov. 5 against Sonoma State, before opening the season Nov. 11 at home against Utah State.
UCI near bottom
The UCI women’s basketball team, under first-year coach Tamara Inoue, has been picked eighth in the nine-team Big West preseason polls produced by both the coaches and the media.
Long Beach State topped both polls.
The coaches dispersed first-place votes among Long Beach State (five), UC Riverside (four), and one each for UC Santa Barbara, Hawaii and Cal State Northridge.
Long Beach State (nine), UC Riverside (seven), Hawaii (three) and UC Davis (one) received first-place votes from the media.
UCI, 4-27 last season, opens Nov. 11 at home against Saint Louis.
VU women debut
The Vanguard women’s basketball team, ranked No. 6 in the NAIA preseason coaches’ poll, opens its season Saturday at home against Bethesda of California at 5:30 p.m.
Coach Russ Davis, named to the NAIA Hall of Fame in the offseason, will face competition for a GSAC title from No. 2-ranked Westmont and No. 14-ranked the Master’s.
Lions geared up
Coach Rhett Soliday’s Vanguard men’s basketball team plays Concordia in an exhibition game on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at home.
The Lions play host to Chapman in the season opener on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
Rivals square off
Golden West and Orange Coast College meet in the annual West Coast Showdown football rivalry game on Saturday at 6 p.m. at OCC.
The Rustlers (3-4, 2-0 in the Southern Conference) are alone in first place after bouncing back from a 1-4 preseason, while OCC (3-4, 1-1) is in a four-way tie for second.
Golden West, which was ranked No. 1 in the state last season before being upset by OCC, is ranked No. 21 in the state, No. 8 in Southern California.
OCC is ranked No. 15 in Southern California.
