Pirates fall to Bobcats in penalty kicks

MISSION VIEJO -- The Orange Coast College women's soccer team pushed Southern California's top-seeded squad, Saddleback College, all the way to penalty kicks before falling 3-2 after a scoreless 120 minutes of play in the third round of the Southern California Regional Playoffs on Tuesday night.

The heartbreaking ends a spectacular season for the 8th-seeded Pirates (15-5-4), who advanced to the third round of the SoCal playoffs for the first time since 2013.

Both teams carried momentum in this back-and-forth matchup, a match where overtime and penalty kicks almost seemed like a foregone conclusion given how closely both teams played against each other. In the first of three meetings, Coast earned a 1-1 tie with the Bobcats before OCC topped Saddleback, 3-2, during the second round of Orange Empire Conference play.

Coast had its best play of the night in the first overtime period, where the Pirates outshot the Bobcats 5-0 and had some opportunities to find the back of the net. 

Finally, it came down to penalty kicks to decide the fate of these two solid programs.

Both teams missed on their first two PK opportunities before Kenzie Marker buried her shot to put Coast up, 1-0. OCC goalkeeper Samantha Ortega, who had 10 saves in regulation and overtime, came up with a big stop in the third round of the PKs, keeping the Pirates up, 1-0.

After a missed fourth shot for OCC, Saddleback's Morgen Pulham got the Bobcats even at 1-1, with just one round remaining. 

In that fifth attempt, Tess Doucette scored for a 2-1 Pirate advantage, but Saddleback's Karissa Franco kept her team's season alive with a tying tally, forcing sudden-death.

After Coast missed its opportunity, Arylia Holiday came through for the Bobcats and ripped a shot into the lower-left corner of the goal, ending OCC's season.

There were several highlights throughout the 2025 campaign for the Pirates, including big wins over powerhouse programs like Saddleback, Cypress, a draw with Santiago Canyon and a draw with Golden West, who will take on Saddleback in the regional finals on Saturday.

Chantelle Sanchez led all of the OEC with 18 goals, while teammate Olivia Hostetler led the conference with 15 assists. Both players were 1-2 in the points leaders with Sanchez edging out Hostetler 48-47.

With just eight sophomores on this year's squad, the 2026 season will be met with even loftier goals and expectations with a solid crew of returners back from this year's season.