Vargas, Taniguchi pace Pirates past Hawks, 4-2
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Orange Coast () | 3 | 1 | 4 |
|
Santiago Canyon () | 2 | 0 | 2 |
ORANGE -- Danny Vargas and Takumi Taniguchi each had a goal and two assists to lead the Orange Coast College men's soccer team to a 4-2 Orange Empire Conference win over host Santiago Canyon on Tuesday afternoon.
Tuesday's win over the Hawks keeps the Pirates (11-3-5 overall, 5-2-4 in OEC) within striking distance of first-place Golden West with one match remaining. The Rustlers tied at Santa Ana, 1-1, on Tuesday, giving them 21 points (5-0-6), two points ahead of Coast. Fullerton College (6-3-2, 20 points) topped Cypress, 2-1 to put them in second place, one point ahed of OCC. On Friday, Coast will play at Santa Ana, while Golden West travels to Fullerton to take on the Hornets.
Pablo Ramirez came up with four saves for OCC.
Coast got on the scoreboard first in the 29th minute when Tino Varona took a feed from Taniguchi and found the back of the net. Seven minutes later, Coast scored two more times on goals by Vargas and Taniguchi with each player assisting the other on their goals.
Finally, in the 82nd minute, the Pirates notched their fourth goal of the afternoon when Jesus Flores took a pass from Vargas and ripped a shot past the SCC goalkeeper for the Pirates' final tally.
