Orange Coast College

Men's Soccer: Pirates tie Falcons, 1-1

Friday, September 14, 2007

CERRITOS -- After a slow start to the non-conference game against Orange Coast College on Friday afternoon, the Cerritos College men’s soccer team scored late in the first half and played to a 1-1 tie. The draw puts the Falcons at 5-2-2 on the year, while the Pirates are now 3-1-2.

Early in the contest, Orange Coast was able to get a goal, as a cluster of players in front of Falcon goalkeeper Diego Millan distracted him enough to allow John Shinjo to score in the fifth minute off an assist by Curtis Tanaguchi. The quick goal by the Pirates seemed to shock Cerritos to the point where they wanted to get that goal back as soon as possible. They had a chance in the 15th minutes when sophomore Brian Alvarez was pulled down in the box, which set up a free kick. Sophomore Ivan Perez’s kick was high and over the net.

In the 33rd minute, the Falcons finally struck pay dirt on a defensive miscommunication by Pirate goalkeeper Joey Balbas and midfielder Matt Blank. The ball was sent into Orange Coast territory with Balbas looking to gain possession of the ball. But Blank beat him to it and sent the ball toward his own net, thinking he had a keeper waiting for his pass. In on the play was freshman Gerardo Torres, who got past both players and kicked the ball into the vacated net.

The play in the second half became more aggressive, with players getting knocked down on just about every possession. The Pirates were looking to get the ball to Taniguchi, Jordan Joseph and Kyle Schneekluth, but it was Jarred Balbas who almost gave the Pirates the lead in the 77th minute. On a corner kick by John Shinjo, Balbas’s header went off the crossbar in the 77th minute. By contrast, freshman Alex Munoz and sophomores Andy Rico and Brian Alvarez were the main targets for Cerritos.

Millan recorded eight saves on the day while Joey Balbas had nine for Orange Coast.

OCC will host L.A. Harbor on Tuesday at 3 p.m.