Posted: Sep 25, 2012

Second-half goal lifts Pirates past Hawks, 2-1

COSTA MESA -- The Orange Coast College men's soccer team opened its Orange Empire Conference schedule on the right foot thanks to a 2-1 win over visiting Santiago Canyon on Tuesday at the OCC Soccer Complex.

Despite controlling most of the action, the Pirates (4-2-1, 1-0 in OEC) were deadlocked with the Hawks (1-2-3, 0-1) through the first 52 minutes before a corner kick and rebound shot by Brandon Brennan was deflected right to teammate Frankie Munoz and the freshman slipped a shot into the back of the net, putting Coast up for good.

From there, the OCC defense, led by strong play from Cedric Ngangnang, Jacob Rushing and Tyler Rios, helped preserve the win.

In goal, OCC netminder Connor Nelson posted five saves to preserve the win, while SCC's Christopher Martinez kept his team in the game with solid play and 10 big saves (seven in the second half).

Coast opened the scoring in the 33rd minute when Caleb Calenderia headed a pass to teammate Chase Nugent, who also used his cranium to beat Martinez up top, putting the Pirates up 1-0.

Lasted all of three minutes as Hawks' forward Adama Jallow took a feed from Robert Jelinek and fired a shot from over 20 yards out that slammed into the upper-left corner of the net to even the match at 1-1.

Coast had several excellent scoring chances, but Martinez was up to the task.

OCC will return to action on Friday at Norco College (3 p.m.). The Pirates' next home match will be on Friday, Oct. 5 against rival Golden West (1 p.m.).

PIRATE FACILITIES