Pirates answer late to earn tie with Fullerton

FULLERTON -- It wasn't the result the Orange Coast College men's soccer team was hoping for, but the Pirates did manage to earn a point as a result of Tuesday's 1-1 draw with host Fullerton College.

With a win, the Pirates (10-4-3, 9-2-2 in Orange Empire Conference) would have clinched their first outright conference title since 1991. Instead, Coast saw second-place Santa Ana move to within two points of first place following Tuesday's 5-1 win over Irvine Valley.

Both teams have one match remaining and both teams will be on the road. OCC will travel to Norco to face the Mustangs, while the Dons travel to Golden West to take on the Rustlers. A win by the Pirates clinches the OEC title, a tie would guarantee at least a share of the title. Santa Ana needs to win to have any chance at the OEC crown.

Both teams had a couple of decent looks in the first half, but the majority of the game was a grind for any offensive success.

Finally, the Hornets (10-6-4, 5-4-4) struck first in the 41st minute when Manuel Juarez slid a long pass to the food of Jose Montes De Oca and the freshman forward ripped a shot past OCC goalkeeper Nathan Brown (five saves) to give the Hornets a 1-0 lead.

In the second half, the Pirates turned up the offensive urgency and had a golden opportunity to score when Jorge Sanchez slid a pass to a wide-open Thales Serra, but, the ball took a funny hop on the chewed up grass surface of Fullerton's soccer complex and hopped over Serra's foot.

The Pirates began to send wave after wave at the Hornets and finally, in the final minute of play, the hard work paid off. OCC's Brice Manning sped down the right side with the ball and fed a wide-open Sanchez, who got just enough of the ball to beat Fullerton goalkeeper Jonathan Negrete (seven saves) to tie things up at 1.

In the final seconds, Coast nearly pulled out the win when Sanchez again fed Serra right in front of the net. The ball got to his shooting foot, but the standout midfielder couldn't get the ball past Negrete as the final whistle blew.

The Pirates/Mustangs season finale will begin at 3 p.m. at Norco College.