Beldi's five goals pace Pirates past Chargers
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Cypress (6-11-2, 3-9-0) | 0 | 1 | 1 |
|
Orange Coast (7-4-8, 6-3-3) | 5 | 2 | 7 |
COSTA MESA -- Achref Beldi notched a season-best five goals to the lead the Orange Coast College men's soccer team to a 7-1 Orange Empire Conference win over visiting Cypress College on Friday afternoon at the OCC Soccer Complex.
Carlos Ambrosi and Dominic Bair also scored for the Pirates (7-4-8 overall, 6-3-3 in OEC), but the story of the afternoon was Beldi, who made the most of a Chargers' defense that could not find the right formula all afternoon.
In the fifth minute, Nicholas Cardenas sent a nice feed across the Cypress defense onto the foot of Beldi, who deflected his shot into the back of the net, putting the Pirates up, 1-0.
That combination worked to success with goals in the 18th and 20th minute, respectively, and OCC was off to the races.
Outshooting the Chargers 14-3 in the opening half, Coast made it 4-0 in the 31st minute on Ambrosi's goal from an assist by Bair and 5-0 on Beldi's fourth tally of the afternoon on the last play of the first half (assisted by Ambrosi).
It was more of the same for Coast in the second half as Beldi's fifth and final goal of the afternoon came in the 48th minute off an assist by Bair, who scored in the 56th minute to close out OCC's scoring.
Israel Ramirez scored in the 65th minute and Eric Rodriguez notched 10 saves in goal for the Chargers (6-11-2, 3-9-0).
In goal, Sina Shahnazari notched four saves, while teammate Parker Roberson made his goalkeeping debut for the final 12 minutes and notched a save of his own.
The Pirates will return to action on Tuesday at Golden West College, beginning at 3 p.m. before wrapping up the regular season on Thursday at Norco College, also at 3 p.m.
