Orange Coast College

Men's Soccer: Pirates, Lasers battle to scoreless tie

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

COSTA MESA - The Orange Coast College and Irvine Valley College men's soccer teams battled to a 0-0 tie on Tuesday in Orange Empire Conference action, but the lack of scoring wasn't from a lack of effort or opportunities.

The OCC (5-3-3, 1-1-1) goalkeeping tandem of Dane Fernandez (three saves in the first half) and Joey Balbas (four saves in the second half) kept the high-octane Lasers (6-2-2, 1-0-2) off the scoreboard. IVC led all conference teams with 23 goals scored this season.

"As banged up as we are, I'll take a tie against this team," OCC assistant coach Glenn Strachan said. "We've got a bunch of pulls and pinches and aches and pains, but we'll eventually get healthier. Our guys that we had left gave me a great effort out there. That's all I can ask for."

IVC keeper Mikhail Radchuk wasn't quite as busy as the Pirates' netminders, but he did his job well, stopping all three shots on goal.

The Lasers' best opportunity to score came in the 68th minute when the duo of Bruno Sad and Jack Plummer pieced their way through the Pirates' defense, but Balbas was up to the task and made the save.

In the first half, the Lasers ripped a pair of bullets from just outside the box, but Fernandez was in the right position and was able to keep them out of the goal.

OCC returns to action on Friday at Santa Ana, beginning at 3 p.m.