Pirates open 2021 with 5-0 win over Seahawks
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
LA Harbor (0-1) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
Orange Coast (1-0) | 2 | 3 | 5 |
COSTA MESA -- The Orange Coast College women's soccer team came out strong in Friday's season opener and rolled past visiting L.A. Harbor College, 5-0.
Lilly Carroll and McKenzie Keasbury each had a pair of goals and one assist for the Pirates, while Samantha Valdez notched a goal and Haley Rae added an assist.
After some back-and-forth action, the Pirates picked up a foul against them just outside the Seahawks box and Valdez made no mistake with the free kick opportunity, ripping her shot into the back of the goal in the 26th minute to put OCC ahead, 1-0.
Sixteen minutes later a nice slip-pass from Rae sprung Carroll on a breakaway opportunity against the tight L.A. Harbor defense and Carroll made no mistake, beating the Seahawks goalkeeper to put Coast up, 2-0.
Early in the second half, Carroll ripped a shot that rang off of the crossbar, but the ball ended up on the foot of Keasbury, who banged a shot into the net in the 55th minute to put the match out of reach.
In the 68th minute another breakaway chance from Carroll -- courtesy of a Keasbury pass -- proved successful as Coast went up, 4-0.
Just five minutes later, the final goal of the late afternoon came courtesy of Keasbury, who used a series of 1-on-1 moves to find enough space to rip a shot into the back of the net to make it 5-0.
It was a stree-free afternoon for the most part for OCC goalkeeper Jessica Gardner, who collected a pair of late saves to preserve the shutout.
The Pirates will now take their act on the road for several road matches, beginning on Tuesday at Norco College, beginning at 4 p.m. The Pirates won't return to the OCC Soccer Complex for a matchup until Friday, Oct. 1 against Saddleback, beginning at 3 p.m.
