Orange Coast College

Women's soccer blanked by Santiago Canyon

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

COSTA MESA - Santiago Canyon showed exactly why there's a goose egg that occupies the number of losses in its standings.
With strong play on both sides of the ball, the Hawks took care of host Orange Coast 4-0 on Tuesday, improving their record to 18-0-1, 12-0-1 in the Orange Empire Conference.
Megan Konishi had two goals, while Katie Romero added a goal and two assists for the Hawks, who took the lead just two minutes into the game and never looked back.
"It was the timing of the goals that killed us," OCC head coach Kevin Smith said. "Right from the opening kick, they scored quickly on us. After that, I thought we played pretty well."
OCC's best chance at a first-half goal came in the 43rd minute when Nicole Huff ripped a free kick past the Hawks' wall, but goalkeeper Katie Graul (seven saves) was up to the task and smothered the low, hooking shot.
Less than a minute later, the Hawks marched down the field and made it 2-0 on Konishi's second goal of the game.
OCC nearly cut the deficit in half on a nice shot off the foot of Diana Johnson, but the ball rang off the outside of the goalpost, keeping the Pirates off the scoreboard.
From there, the Hawks added goals by Rachel Varela and Romero to ice the game on a chilly afternoon at the OCC Soccer Complex.
Next Tuesday, the Pirates will host Riverside at 3 p.m. with third place on the line. Riverside edged the Pirates 1-0 in the first round of OEC play.
"We need that game," Smith said. "This one is huge for us."