Pirates hang on for 4-1 win over Norco

COSTA MESA -- It was the type of white-knuckled finish that most weren't expecting, but in the end, the Orange Coast College men's soccer team pulled out a 4-1 win over visiting Norco College on Tuesday afternoon.

"My goodness ... this game was 4-1, but it could have been 4-4, 5-4 them, 9-1 us, 14-13," OCC assistant coach Glenn Strachan said. "This was as open as I've seen us play and against a team like that, that's no good. I feel like I'm about 90 years old right about now."

The three-goal margin of victory is a tad misleading. Both teams battled back and forth and with the Pirates holding on to a 2-1 lead, Norco (6-7-1, 1-5-1 in Orange Empire Conference) had several high-percentage scoring opportunities. Early in the first half, a point-blank stop by starting goalkeeper Nathan Brown (six saves) actually knocked the contact out of his left eye and he was replaced with Connor Brown (two saves), who also needed a good right-jab to punch a potential Mustang goal out of harm's way.

And finally, another shot deep inside OCC territory was redirected by a diving defensive play by Jacob Rushing to prevent more ulcers to the Pirate coaching staff.

"We didn't have a good practice on Monday and it carried over into (Tuesday)," Strachan said. "We've got Santiago Canyon coming up on Friday and we're going to have to bring more energy and a higher level of play on all areas to be successful."

That slow play was evident right from the opening whistle as the Mustangs needed only one rush down the field to take the lead as Nestor Navia found the back of the net in the second minute of play.

OCC (5-4-2, 4-2-1) regrouped and in the 16th minute, a nice free kick by Jorge Sanchez landed inside the Mustangs' scoring box. Teammate Tyler Rios deflected the ball over to Blake Mooney and the sweeper didn't miss, tying the match at 1.

Thirteen minutes later, Coast grabbed the lead for good when fed Sanchez and the sophomore forward cut to the inside and ripped a topspin shot over Norco keeper Martin Gonzalez (five saves) to make it 2-1.

From there, it was back and forth, with each team missing several golden scoring opportunities.

Finally, Rios helped Strachan and the rest of the Pirates breathe easier when he took a cross from Thales Serra and redirected it into the goal in the 87th minute, making it 3-1.

Less than a minute later, Sanchez did the same pass to Serra, who scored to close things out.

OCC will be at Santiago Canyon on Friday (3 p.m.) before hosting Cypress on Tuesday (3 p.m.).