Pirates battle to scoreless draw with Rio Hondo
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Rio Hondo (4-0-2) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
Orange Coast (0-1-1) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
COSTA MESA -- Wednesday's men's soccer game between Rio Hondo and Orange Coast had a bit of everything -- lots of heat, a steady downpour, several yellow cards and a few high-quality scoring chances. The only thing missing ... goals.
The Pirates (0-1-1) and Roadrunners (4-0-2) just couldn't find the back of the net and the two squads had to settle for a 0-0 tie.
It was a solid effort for Coast, which bounced back well from a 3-1 season-opening defeat at the hands of Chaffey College.
OCC's best chance of the afternoon came in the 31st minute, when a beautiful pass into the penalty box was headed by freshman forward Peter Marquez, but the Costa Mesa HS grad's connection rang off of the crossbar and out of play and the match remained scoreless.
Fighting a surprise rain storm for most of the first half of play, neither team racked up a ton of scoring opportunities, but in the second half, the Roadrunners had the better of things, but the Coast defense was up to the task.
In the 60th and 65th minutes, two RCC shots came from point-blank range, but Pirate netminder Ryan Brown picked up two of his eight saves at the right time. Six of his stops came in the final 45 minutes of play as the Coast defense, led by sophomore Ty O'Connor, showed vast improvement from last week's matchup against the Panthers.
Finally, in the final minute of the match, OCC sophomore forward Curtis Taniguchi ripped a shot on goal, but the shot just missed the frame and both teams settled for the stalemate.
The Pirates will return to action on Tuesday when they host Long Beach City College inside LeBard Stadium at 7 p.m.
