Pirates leave Norco seeing red with 3-0 win
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Norco (4-4-2, 1-4-1) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
Orange Coast (5-5-2, 3-3-1) | 2 | 1 | 3 |
COSTA MESA -- The Orange Coast College men's soccer team took advantage of an over-aggressive Norco squad and topped the Mustangs, 3-0, on Friday at the OCC Soccer Complex.
Thanks to 15 first-half fouls and a pair of red cards issued to Norco in the first half, Coast jumped out to a 2-0 lead and used the 11-vs.-9 matchup for the final 50 minutes of play to cruise to victory.
Coast (5-5-2, 3-3-1 in Orange Empire Conference play) grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first minute of play as a foul by the Mustangs (4-4-2, 1-4-1) resulted in a free-kick opportunity for Vitor Gameiro and the sophomore midfielder bent in a shot from the left side into the lower-right corner, putting OCC up 1-0.
Later in the first half, a nice pass off of the foot of Bryan Martinez found the foot of Luis Anaya, who ripped in OCC's second goal of the match in the 34th minute.
From there, the Mustangs fell apart with multiple fouls and finally, the referee on the field ejected a pair of Norco players for rough play, giving Coast a two-man advantage for the remainder of the contest.
In the 64th minute, Gameiro sent in a corner kick, which was headed in beautifully by teammate Hector Blanco to cap off the Pirate scoring.
Norco's backup goalie Miguel Rios came up with several strong saves down the stretch and finished with six saves for the half.
OCC outshot the Mustangs 19-4 thanks in large part to the shorthanded status of the Mustangs in the second half.
The Pirates will return to action on Tuesday at home against El Camino, beginning at 3 p.m.
