Pirates' season rolls on with 3-0 playoff win over Olympians
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
San Diego Mesa (13-8-1) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
Orange Coast (12-5-4) | 2 | 1 | 3 |
COSTA MESA -- The Orange Coast College women's soccer team cruised to a 3-0 win over visiting San Diego Mesa in the opening round of the 2015 Southern California Regional playoffs on Thursday at the OCC Soccer Complex.
With the win, the 15th-seeded Pirates (12-5-4) will play against No. 2 Rio Hondo (13-1-4) on Saturday at the University of La Verne, beginning at 2 p.m. Coast played the Roadrunners to a 0-0 tie back on Sept. 9 at OCC.
Coast grabbed the lead for good against the Olympians (13-8-1) in the 15th minute when a nice pass over the top of the Mesa defense by Rachel Meier led to a breakaway opportunity by Cori Haney and the sophomore forward made no mistake, finding the back of the net and putting the Pirates up 1-0.
Just 14 minutes later, another long pass over the top of the pressing Olympians' defense led to a 1-on-1 battle for forward Sydnee Busby and the OCC freshman ripped a perfect shot with her left foot from a sharp angle into the net, giving Coast a 2-0 advantage.
Mesa, a team that had scored 71 goals throughout the regular season, had very few scoring opportunities, thanks to a near-perfect performance by the Pirate defense. Any shot that did make it on frame, Odalis Elias (three saves) was there to make the stop.
Finally, in the 75th minute, a free kick was ripped toward the upper portion of the goal, where Mesa goalkeeper Brittany Garrido (six saves) managed to bat the ball forward, but Haney was right there to head in the rebound, putting Coast up, 3-0.
Coast outshot the Olympians 19-10 and controlled play throughout the match.
