Pirates edged by Hawks in SoCal Regional playoff

ORANGE -- The Orange Coast College women's soccer team gave the No. 2-seeded Santiago Canyon College Hawks all they could handle in Round 1 of the Southern California Regional playoffs on Saturday. But, one misplay in the back and missed opportunities up front left the Pirates on the wrong end of a 1-0 decision, ending their season with a record of 14-6-3.

The 15th-seeded Pirates set the tone against their Orange Empire Conference rival in the first half and had several decent scoring chances. On defense, Coast kept the Hawks' weapons in check and was led by the dynamic midfielder, Rachel Moxley, who overcame a questionable yellow card in the opening minutes and continued to challenge play after play all over the field.

After a scoreless opening half, the Hawks took a throw-in near the corner of the Pirates' end. Lauren Sabella threw the ball towards the center of the goal, where it bounced through a mass of humanity untouched and landed on the foot of Renee De La Torre and the sophomore midfielder made no mistake, finding the back of the net in the 51st minute for the lone goal of the match.

Coast continued to apply pressure and had a couple of near breakaway opportunities late in the match, but the Hawks' defense -- a group that has allowed just eight goals the entire season -- slowed down the OCC forwards and allowed goalkeeper Siera Pedroza (six saves) to end any possibility of a tie in the match.

Early in the first half, Coast had a pair of golden opportunities to grab an advantage. In the 2nd minute, a loose ball ended up on the foot of Jordan Moore and the sophomore standout ripped a shot that sailed just wide of the upper-right corner of the goal.

In the 15th minute, Coast has four players down low as a scramble for a loose ball in front of the net ensued. After several heart-pounding seconds, Pedroza kept the ball out of the net and the Hawks finally cleared the ball out of danger. 

"We left it all on the field and that's all any coach can ask of his players," OCC head coach Kevin Smith said. "We played them as hard as we could and I'm extremely proud of the effort."

Tara Tellez had six saves for the Pirates, including a pair of long-range rockets sent in on goal in the second half. 

OCC's last chance came in the final minute of play when a Pirate pass was slipped by the defense and to forward Sydnee Busby, but the SCC defense again collapsed quickly on the conference's leading goal scorer and Coast remained off the scoreboard.