Pirates, Huskies battle to scoreless stalemate
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
East Los Angeles (3-2-2) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
Orange Coast (1-2-3) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
COSTA MESA -- The scoring drought of the Orange Coast College men's soccer team continued on Tuesday night. Despite a hard-fought effort, the Pirates had to settle for a 0-0 tie against the East L.A. College Huskies under the lights at LeBard Stadium.
Following a season-opening 3-1 win back on Sept. 3, the Pirates (1-2-3) have scored only one goal over their next five contests. Against ELAC, Coast battled hard against a tough South Coast Conference opponent, but once again, the scoresheet remained clean.
Despite the lack of offensive fireworks, there was still plenty of exciting action between two quality programs. The Huskies (3-2-2), who also battled OCC's conference-foe Santa Ana to a 0-0 draw, appeared to have a speed advantage over the Pirates, but Coast managed to minimize any decent scoring opportunity.
Coast outshot the Huskies, 6-3 in the first half and controlled things for most of the opening 45 minutes. Late in the first half, OCC forward Brice Manning had a decent scoring opportunity, but his shot was stopped by ELAC goalkeeper Andy Gutierrez, who finished the night with five saves.
Gutierrez was matched save for save by Pirate netminder Nathan Brown, who earned seven saves, including five in the second half.
The Huskies' best chance came off of a free kick late in the second half, but Brown used his 6-foot-5 frame to catch the passing attempt and keep out away from the charging ELAC forwards.
The Pirates will open up Orange Empire Conference play on Tuesday at Norco College, beginning at 3 p.m. Coast returns home on Friday, Oct. 3 against Santiago Canyon, also at 3 p.m.
