Pirates pick up play and shut down Jaguars, 3-0
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Southwestern (0-5-1) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
Orange Coast (4-1-1) | 1 | 2 | 3 |
COSTA MESA -- After a slow start, the Orange Coast College men's soccer team picked things up and notched a 3-0 nonconference win over visiting Southwestern College on Friday at the OCC Soccer Complex.
After both teams found some tempo to the match, the Pirates (4-1-1) used some fast-break offense to find their first goal of the contest. In the 24th minute, a long pass was sent to sophomore forward Danny Vargas, who slipped a pass to teammate Tino Varona. Varona's shot attempt rang off the crossbar, but the rebound fell to the foot of Armand Pigeon, who sent the ball into the open net to give OCC a 1-0 lead.
It stayed that way for the majority of the contest. Southwestern (0-5-1) had a glorious chance to even the match in the 75th minute when the Jaguars were awarded a free kick just outside the Pirate box, but the shot attempt rang off the OCC defensive wall and the shutout remained in tact.
Just six minutes after that, Coast made it 2-0 when Vargas took advantage of some hard work from teammate Bryan Elsing, who won a gritty possession and found Vargas, who fed Pigeon for his second goal of the contest in the 81st minute.
Coast put the match away for good in the 87th minute when Ariel Gracida set up Varona for OCC's third-and-final goal of the match.
Once again, the back line of the Pirate defense proved strong with key defensive stops turned in by Tony Tobon on a key one-on-one battle and Jimmy Castillo, who headed away a potential dangerous free-kick situation midway through the match.
OCC goalkeeper Luke Fyvie came up with three saves to preserve the shutout win for the Pirates.
Coast will return to action on Friday at home against Long Beach City College, beginning at 3 p.m.
