Serra's strong play paces Pirates past Rustlers
| 00:00 - 2nd | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Golden West (4-6-1,1-2-1) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
Orange Coast (4-3-1,3-1) | 1 | 2 | 3 |
COSTA MESA -- The strong, all-around play of sophomore midfielder Thales Serra proved to be the difference for the Orange Coast College men's soccer team in Friday's 3-0 Orange Empire Conference win over visiting Golden West College.
Serra scored a pair of goals for the Pirates (4-3-1, 3-1 in OEC) and his strong play up the middle did not go unnoticed by assistant coach Glenn Strachan.
"Thales was awesome today -- he was all over the place for us," Strachan said. "It was a great effort from everyone out there. It was a hard-fought match on both sides and I was very pleased with our effort out there."
The match was scoreless for the majority of the first half as both teams traded blows early. Finally, in the 42nd minute, a turnover by the Rustlers' defense enabled Oscar Fernandez to chip a pass over to Tyler Rios and the sophomore found the back of the net with his shot to put Coast ahead, 1-0.
Both teams were ready to get after it in the second half, but it was the Pirates who struck the big blow early on. Less than a minute after the referee's whistle, Jorge Sanchez streaked down the right side and sent a perfect pass to Serra, who deflected the ball past diving goalkeeper David Elias to make it, 2-0. Elias finished the afternoon with six saves.
From there, OCC's defense took over and kept the Rustlers off of the scoreboard the rest of the way. GWC had a few chances to get back in the match, but OCC netminder Nathan Brown (six saves) made the big stop when his team needed it the most.
The Pirates will return to action on Tuesday at Santa Ana College, beginning at 3 p.m. Coast will return to the OCC Soccer Complex on Friday against Fullerton, also at 3 p.m.
