No. 15 Pirates host No. 18 Olympians on Thursday in SoCal Regional opener

COSTA MESA -- The Orange Coast College women's soccer team earned a No. 15 seed in this year's Southern California Regional playoffs and will host No. 18 San Diego Mesa College on Thursday at 2 p.m. at the OCC Soccer Complex.

The winner of Thursday's matchup will play at No. 2-seed Rio Hondol on Saturday, beginning at 2 p.m. (PLAYOFF BRACKET)

For the Pirates (11-5-4), who finished tied for third in the Orange Empire Conference, are playing their best soccer of the season, going 7-1-1 down the stretch after opening the season with just one win through their first six contests (1-2-3). 

Leading the way for the OCC offense has been the 1-2 punch of sophomore Cori Haney and freshman Sydnee Busby. Haney leads the Pirates with 11 goals and 26 points, while Busby is close behind with nine goals and 21 points. Five of Haney's goals have come in Coast's last four matches, while Busby collected a big two-goal effort in the Pirates' 3-0 win at rival Golden West on Oct. 27.

The future is looking bright for Coast as well. In addition to Busby's first-year success, three other freshmen Pirates -- Emily Malec (five goals, 11 points), Jessica Bracken (four, 10 points), and Emma Gomez (two goals, eight points), are among Coast's point leaders, along with sophomore Ana Villanueva (team-best eight assists, 12 points).

In goal, sophomore Odalis Elias has played all but six minutes of the 2015 season and has a 0.75 goals-against average with 11 shutouts and 10 wins.

For the Olympians (13-7-1), the playoffs looked like a pipe dream after starting the season 0-5-1, but a perfect 8-0 run through the Pacific Coast Conference's South Division, gave Mesa an automatic playoff spot.

With a 71-22 edge in scoring throughout the season, Mesa has several players to keep an eye on during the match with the Pirates, including a pair of 10-goal scorers, Kimberly Mederos (10 goals, five assists) and Sarah Pullman (10 goals, three assists). Four Olympian players with 10-or-more points include Alexia Orenday (six goals, 15 points), Georgina Herrera (five goals, 12 points), Kaitlyn Harvey (three goals, 11 points) and Victoria Soto (six goals, 10 points).

In goal, Brittany Garrido has seen the majority of the action for the Olympians and is 9-4-1 with 14 goals allowed and 66 saves in over 1,100 minutes of action (1.12 goals-against average).