Pirates regroup, power past Spartans, 4-1

COSTA MESA -- After a pair of head-scratching performances to start the 2018 season, the Orange Coast College men's soccer team responded with a head-NODDING performance with a convincing 4-1 win over MiraCosta College on Wednesday at the OCC Soccer Complex.

Three goals over a nine-minute span near the end of the first half proved to be more than enough for the Pirates (1-2) as the mixture of crisp passing, team speed and relentless pressure proved to be too much for the Spartans (0-3).

Vitor Gameiro scored two goals and added an assist for OCC, while Nicholas Cardenas added a goal and two assists. Tien Cao notched his first goal of the season, while Kensho Adachi added an assist as the Pirates outshot the Spartans 17-10 for the game.

After 30 minutes of scoreless action, Coast grabbed the lead for good when Cardenas slipped a nice pass to Gameiro and the 2017 Orange Empire Conference MVP ripped a shot past MCC goalkeeper Andrew Clayton for the first goal of the afternoon.

Just three minutes later, Gameiro returned the favor and led Cardenas with a nice pass and the sophomore forward chipped a shot over a charging Clayton and into the back of the empty net to put OCC up, 2-0.

In the 41st minute, Adachi fought off a one-on-one battle with a MiraCosta defender and slipped a nice pass to Cao, who one-timed a shot past Clayton to make it, 3-0.

It stayed that way through the rest of the first half and just four minutes into the second half, Alexsis Garcia set up OCC's fourth goal with a nice outlet pass to Cardenas, who crossed a feed over to Gameiro for his second goal of the afternoon.

OCC goalkeeper Thiago Lino Da Costa notched six saves for the afternoon before a last-minute penalty kick was scored by Spartan forward Eddie Franco to end the match.

There is little time to celebrate Coast's first win of the season as the Pirates return to action on Wednesday night against East Los Angeles, beginning at 7 p.m. at LeBard Stadium.