Pirates earn No. 5 seed; will host Irvine Valley on Saturday

COSTA MESA -- After a stellar 2019 season, the Orange Coast College men's soccer team will host the opening round of the Southern California Regional playoffs against Irvine Valley on Saturday, beginning at 2 p.m. at the OCC Soccer Complex.

The Pirates (12-3-5) earned a No. 5 seed in this year's 18-team playoff after finishing second in the Orange Empire Conference with a 6-2-4 record. Six of the OEC's seven teams earned a spot in this year's playoffs, showing just how tough the OEC was this year.

Freshman forward Danny Vargas, who was recently named the Most Valuable Player of the Orange Empire Conference, leads the Pirates against a tough Lasers squad that gave OCC all it could handle in 2019. Vargas led Coast in goals (8), assists (9) and points (25). Joining Vargas up front includes freshmen forwards Takumi Taniguchi (six goals, five assists, 17 points), Tino Varona (six goals, three assists, 15 points) and John Cisneros (five goals, 10 points). On "X" factor for the Pirates, according to head coach Kevin Smith, is the play of freshman midfielder Julian Madrigal, who has been battling injuries this year, but is getting better at just the right time. His overall, two-way play could be a welcomed addition to an already-deep and talented Pirate squad.

The Pirates have been led from the back of the formation, courtesy of freshmen defenders Anthony Tobon, Max Copeland and Jake Whitcomb, all of whom earned first-team, All-OEC honors this year. In addition to that dynamic trio, two more defenders -- sophomore Cayden Bonner and freshmen Tyler Beteag -- earned second-team, All-OEC honors, anchoring a defense that allowed just 21 goals total in 20 games played this year.

If all else, fails, look for OCC goalkeeper Pablo Ramirez to make the big save for the Pirates. the freshman goalkeeper has an 0.87 goals-against average this year, allowing 13 goals with 81 saves in 1,350 minutes played and has recorded seven shutouts. Thiago Lino Da Costa is also ready to go for the Pirates after starting in goal at the beginning of the season. The sophomore has a 1.60 GAA and 23 saves in 450 minutes of action.

This will be the third meeting between the two schools this year. OCC hosted the 12th-seeded Lasers (8-7-7) on Oct. 8 and pulled out a gritty 1-0 win. Ramirez earned the shutout with with six saves, while Matthew Ruiz's goal in the 39th minute held up for the entire match.

The two teams met again on Nov. 1 and the Pirates needed a late goal by Taniguchi in the 86th minute to salvage a 1-1 draw with the Lasers.

Irvine Valley is led by its top scoring duo of sophomore forward Benjamin Asabi and freshman forward Max Kleinhammes. Each were named first team all-conference on Monday. Asabi finished with 24 points and Kleinhammes had 22 points for the Lasers.

Sophomore keeper Nathan King was one of the top goalies in the conference and earned second team honors. He recorded the most saves out of any goalie in the conference with 99 and had a .798 save percentage.

The winner of Saturday's match will take on the winner between No. 4 El Camino and No. 13 Cypress on Tuesday afternoon.