Late free kick dooms Pirates in 2-1 loss over Hawks
| 90:00 - 2nd | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Santiago Canyon (6-0-1,1-0-0) | 1 | 1 | 2 |
|
Orange Coast (1-3-1,0-1-0) | 1 | 0 | 1 |
COSTA MESA -- Taking on one of the top teams in Southern California, the Orange Coast College men's soccer team kept pace with the Santiago Canyon College Hawks throughout the match. It was when play was stopped that things got dicey for the hosts.
A pair of free kicks by the Hawks made their way into the back of the net and that proved to be the difference in a 2-1 home loss for the Pirates in both teams' Orange Empire Conference openers.
Both teams had 11 shots and both teams notched seven saves, but a couple of fouls just outside the Pirates' scoring area turned the complexion of the game around towards the Hawks (6-0-1 overall).
The first came in the 41st minute and on the free kick, freshman forward Roberto Escudero hooked a shot around the OCC wall and past the outstretched arms of diving goalkeeper Nathan Brown into the lower-left corner of the net.
Coast (1-3-1 overall) returned the favor in the 44th minute when a hand-ball inside the Hawks' scoring area resulted in a penalty kick. Sophomore Tyler Rios stepped up and out-guessed Hawks' goalkeeper Shion Jahangiri and tied the match at 1-1.
OCC built up some momentum off of that PK and had to excellent scoring chances from Thales Serra, but Jahangiri kept his team in the match with a pair of point-blank stops.
In the second half, both teams battled back and forth. Finally, in the 84th minute, another tough fall was called on the Pirates just outside their scoring area. Much like the first shot, Escudero stepped up and again hooked a perfect shot into the lower-corner of the net, putting the Hawks back in front.
The Pirates tried to throw everything at the Hawks' defense, but a couple of decent scoring opportunities were denied in the final minutes of the match.
OCC returns to action on Friday at Cypress, beginning at 2 p.m.
