16 SPORTS
SANTA ANA COLLEGE el Don/eldonnews.org • MONDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2017
SO CALS: DONS PREPARING FOR PLAYOFF INTENSITY
Continued From Page 15
SOCCER / Dons sophomore Pablo Capetilla battles for possesion against
Rustlers forward Byron Gutierrez. / Jordy Espinoza / el Don
sophomore midfielder Noe
Alvizo-Chavez; sophomore
midfielder Matheus Cuhna and
sophomore defender Daniel Cas-
tro. Together they made 24
of the 30 assists the Dons had
this season.
“It felt really good to be one of
the four team leaders in assists,”
freshman midfielder Lopez said.
“I know I can even be better
myself and I only look to im-
prove as a player from here and
make myself into an even greater
playmaker moving forward to
give my team more opportunities
to score a goal.”
When the Dons found an of-
fensive groove this season, it was
one no opponent could contain.
The Dons are undefeated in the
seven games in which they’ve
scored three or more goals.
The Dons ranked second in
the OEC in shutouts holding six
teams scoreless this season. Santa
Ana goalkeeping ranked second
in the OEC, allowing 27 goals
to opposing team’s behind first-
place Golden West, who
allowed 16.
With the playoffs looming, the
Dons are ready for the challenge
that lies ahead.
“We are ready for playoffs that’s
for sure,” sophomore forward
Matheus Silva said. “It’s going to
be a hard challenge for us, but I
know our team is going to work
really hard this week in prepara-
tion for the playoffs.”
The Dons will look to bounce
back from last year’s second-
round exit in the SoCal Re-
gionals and seek their first State
championship since 2004, when
Vasquez was first introduced as
coach of the Dons.
“Plain and simple we’re going
to have to create opportunities
to score if we want to be suc-
cessful as a team in the playoffs,”
Vasquez said.
“It felt really good
to be one of the four
team leaders
in assists.”
Dons Midfielder
Christopher Lopez