Pirates open OEC play with 1-1 draw
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Santiago Canyon (2-4-2, 0-0-1) | 1 | 0 | 1 |
|
Orange Coast (4-1-2, 0-0-1) | 1 | 0 | 1 |
COSTA MESA -- The emotions get amped up under the lights of LeBard Stadium, especially when it's the Orange Empire Conference opener for the Orange Coast College men's soccer team. But in the end, the Pirates were fit to be tied as they earned a 1-1 stalemate with visiting Santiago Canyon on Tuesday night.
It was a battle on both ends of the field for both clubs as a pair of first-period goals ended up being all offense supplied from the night.
Coast grabbed a 1-0 lead in the 16th minute when Danny Vargas spun around from his defender with the ball, sped up the sideline and fed a perfect pass into the box, where teammate Armand Pigeon bang in the shot to put the Pirates up early.
It stayed that way until the 37th minute, when Andrew Resendiz found himself with the ball in prime scoring area and buried his shot into the back of the net to even the score.
Both teams had a few additional scoring opportunities in the second half, but the goalkeepers for both clubs were up to the task. OCC's Slater Kucera came up with four saves, while SCC's Lucas Clarida stopped three.
In the "mindless stat of the night" department ... OCC was called for 16 fouls to just seven for the Hawks. yet, SCC was called for six of the match's seven yellow cards for the night.
Coast will return to action on Friday inside the OCC Soccer Complex for a 4 p.m. makeup game with Long Beach City College.
