Pirates tame Huskies under the lights, 4-2

COSTA MESA -- Playing under the lights at LeBard Stadium brought out the best of the Orange Coast College men's soccer team as the Pirates cruised to a 4-2 nonconference win over visiting East L.A. College on Wednesday night.

Achref Beldi had two goals and an assist for the Pirates (2-2), while Nicholas Cardenas added two goals and Tien Cao dished out a pair of assists.

Cardenas, in particular, dazzled the crowd and his own teammates with an array of moves as the sophomore forward picked apart the Huskies' defensive unit.

In the 32nd minute, Cardenas took a pass from Cao, then showed off his skills to work around three different defenders before ripping a rocket past ELAC goalkeeper Antonio Sanchez for the first goal of the night.

Ten minutes later, Cao again set up OCC's next tally when he ripped a shot on goal that was deflected by Sanchez, but the loose ball ended up on the foot of Beldi, who picked up the loose change and found the back of the net to make it, 2-0.

It stayed that way through the rest of the first half, but in the opening minute of the second half, Cardenas took a feed from Beldi and sped past the ELAC defense down the right side and again slammed a high-level shot from a sharp angle into the back of the net, putting Coast up, 3-0.

On the next possession, ELAC found the scoreboard on a goal by Paulo Macedo Mahashique, cutting the Huskies' deficit to 3-1.

But OCC would respond 10 minutes later as a long feed by Parker Roberson found its way to Beldi, who beat Sanchez with a strong finish, giving Coast a 4-1 advantage.

Henrique Alves closed out the scoring for the Huskies with a goal in the 89th minute.

Despite allowing four goals, Sanchez was outstanding for the Huskies in goal, notching 10 saves, including several top-quality chances from a barrage of Pirate opportunities. 

OCC's goalkeeper, Thiago Lino Da Costa had two saves for the Pirates, who return to action on Friday at Rio Hondo College, beginning at 6 p.m. Coast's next home match will take place on Friday, Sept. 14 against Fullerton at 3 p.m.