Pirates rally in second half for a 2-1 win over Rustlers
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Golden West (4-11-4, 3-11-1) | 1 | 0 | 1 |
|
Orange Coast (11-5-4, 9-4-2) | 0 | 2 | 2 |
COSTA MESA -- Under the lights of LeBard stadium, the Orange Coast College women's soccer team turned out the lights on rival Golden West with a 2-1 comeback win on Tuesday night.
In spite of a less-than-stellar won-loss record, the Rustlers (4-11-4, 3-11-1 in Orange Empire Conference) came out strong against their rivals and struck first when a free kick from Jessica Jackson deflected off of a pile of players and onto the foot of teammate Ashley Mora, who found the back of the net in the 17th minute to put GWC up, 1-0.
Despite a couple of near-connections by the Pirates, the score remained the same heading into the second half. There, the Pirates found another gear and turned the match around.
Just three minutes into the second half, a free kick by Samantha Oliver found its way to OCC's leading goal-scorer, Lupe Rodriguez, who headed the pass past the GWC goalkeeper to even the contest at 1-1.
From there, OCC maintained the pressure and had two more golden opportunities against Golden West. In the 58th minute, another header opportunity banked off of the crossbar and in the 66th minute, a potential go-ahead goal was waved off on an offsides call.
Finally, in the 74th minute, Tiffany Chantler was pulled down inside the GWC penalty area, resulting in a penalty kick chance and there, Rodriguez ripped her shot into the back of the net to put the Pirates ahead for good.
Alison Marlow, who finished with five shots, came up big down the stretch with a diving save just inside the left post on an attempt by GWC's Rachel McClure and on the final play of the match, she went up high to pull in her final save of the night.
Coast will wrap up the regular season at home on Thursday against Norco, beginning at 3 p.m.
