Orange Coast College

Men's Soccer: Pirates fall in season opener, 2-0

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

COSTA MESA – The Orange Coast College men’s soccer team dropped its season opener to visiting Rio Hondo, 2-0, in nonconference action on Tuesday.

The Roadrunners (1-0) took the lead for good in the 17th minute when Celso Alvarez slipped behind the Pirate defense and knocked a shot over the head of goalie Luis Dunn and into the back of the net.

Rio Hondo added an insurance goal in the 73rd minute when Andres Sanchez picked up a loose ball off a deflected save by Dunn and buried the ball into the net.

“For some of our players, it was an initiation to college soccer and they learned it’s a much faster game than at the high school level,” OCC assistant coach Glenn Strachan said. “In the first half, we were reacting to what they were doing instead of controlling the game and making them react to us. That’s what these early games are for and we need to get mentally quicker and tougher out there.”

In the first half, OCC’s offense saw very limited chances, while the Roadrunners controlled the tempo. While OCC’s game did improve in the second half, the Pirates were still unable to get on the scoreboard.

OCC will return to action next Friday at Moorpark, beginning at 3 p.m.