Pirates advance with shootout win over Santa Monica

COSTA MESA -- With the season on the line, Orange Coast College goalkeeper Alison Marlow came up with the big save to keep her teammates alive and well in the postseason as the Pirates outlasted visiting Santa Monica City College on penalty kicks, 3-2, to advance to the next round of the Southern California Regional playoffs on Saturday afternoon.

With the match locked in a 1-1 tie, a pair of 15-minute overtime sessions could not decide a winner so the match went down to penalty kicks and that's when Marlow came through on the biggest stage.

With the Pirates (13-5-4) shooting first, sophomore Lupe Rodriguez stepped up and put OCC ahead with a confident shot into the corner of the net.

After Santa Monica (15-4-2) missed wide on its first try, Coast had a chance for a 2-0 lead in the PK's, but Corsairs' goalkeeper Emma Romero (five saves) came up with a big stop to keep SMCC close.

From there, both teams went back and forth with goals as Marisa Moore and Josseline Espinoza scored for the Corsairs, while Madison Crowley and Sabrina Chantler found the back of the net for Coast, putting the Pirates up, 3-2.

Romero took the fourth PK for the Corsairs, but her shot rang off the crossbar. But, OCC's next shot connected with the right post, so SMCC still had the opportunity to force extra kicks.

But on SMCC's final try from Chloe Glueck, Marlow guessed correctly and lunged to her right and she managed to make a diving stop on the shot, sending the Pirates to the next round of the playoffs.

"It was a hard-fought match between two fairly even teams and there weren't many opportunities to score," OCC head coach Kevin Smith said. "I think we might've had the better chances down the stretch and hopefully we can do a better job of finishing those chances off next time because they don't come around very often. But I liked the effort by our team and we managed to live to fight another day."

Coast grabbed the early lead in the match when a nice feed by Samantha Oliver found its way to a streaking Rodriguez, who fought off a SMCC defender and ripped a shot past Romero in the 23rd minute to put the Pirates up, 1-0.

The lead did not last for long as SMCC fought back and in the 34th minute, a free kick off of Chrystal Dorado was deflected off of the head of teammate Josseline Espinoza. The ball was slowed by Marlow near the goal line but the momentum of the play pushed the ball just over the goal line and the match was tied at 1.

From there, Coast managed to ding the crossbar on a pair of long shots, but Romero did just enough to keep the ball out of the back of her goal. 

Coast will now face the winner between No. 1 Santa Barbara City College and No. 17 Antelope Valley, who play later this evening. Log on to www.occpirateathletics.com for the latest playoff information as it becomes available.