Pirates keep slim playoff hopes alive with 2-0 win over Golden West

COSTA MESA -- The Orange Coast College men's soccer team is playing its best soccer of the season and the Pirates are hoping that it's enough to earn a playoff spot. OCC used a pair of second-half goals to top rival Golden West, 2-0, on Tuesday in a crucial Orange Empire Conference matchup for the hosts.

The win not only gave the Pirates (9-9-1, 8-5-0 in OEC) huge power points with one match to go, it also eliminated the second-place Rustlers (12-3-5, 8-2-3) from any hope at a conference championship. GWC's loss, combined with Irvine Valley College's 3-0 win at Santa Ana, gave the Lasers the conference title. 

With one match left in the season, the Pirates will host Fullerton on Friday at 3 p.m., while the Rustlers, just three points ahead of third-place OCC, host Santa Ana, on Friday at 3 p.m.

With summertime a DISTANT memory on the chilly OCC Soccer Complex field, the Pirates and Rustlers battled through a scoreless first half, but the Pirates came out fast and scored in the opening minute of the second half. Jack Slavik fought through a GWC defender and slipped a pass to teammate Taylor Kane, who ripped a shot past GWC netminder Johnny Garcia, putting Coast ahead for good.

It stayed that way until the 82nd minute when the Pirates struck again. A long downfield strike found the foot of OCC forward Peter Marquez, who fed a pass across the goal area right to the foot of Slavik, whose shot slipped past Garcia and past the goal line, giving Coast that all-important two-goal advantage.

It turns out the second goal was not needed as the Pirate defense, led by GK Ryan Brown (nine saves) came up with stop after stop as the Rustlers tried to find some type of offensive success.

It was just the second time all season that GWC had been kept off of the scoreboard in a match as Cuyamaca pulled off the feat in the season opener (0-0 tie on Aug. 28).