Orange Coast College

Men's Soccer: Pirates fall late to Fullerton

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

COSTA MESA - Looking to head into the second round of Orange Empire Conference play with some momentum, the Orange Coast College men's soccer team instead came to a screeching halt with a 3-2 loss to visiting Fullerton on Tuesday at the OCC Soccer Complex.

The Pirates (6-5-4, 2-3-2) came out flat and watched the shorthanded Hornets (6-5-4, 1-4-2) earn their first conference win of the season.

OCC forward Jared Balbas drew a foul inside Fullerton's scoring box, earning a penalty kick that was blasted into the back of the net by Pirate teammate Jordan Joseph, giving Coast a 1-0 lead in the game's 16th minute.

Fullerton would respond in the 30th minute when Chris Buchard ripped a well-placed free kick from just outside the OCC box, over the Pirates' wall and over the outstretched arms of Coast goalkeeper Dane Fernandez (six saves) to even things up.

Just a few minutes later, Coast would regain the lead when John Shinjo took the ball in deep, worked around his defender, then slid a nice pass over to Brian Siemonsma, who found an opening and beat Fullerton goalkeeper Eddie Gutierrez (five first-half saves) to make it 2-1.

But the Hornets took advantage of a bad defensive turnover and, off a pass from Jose Castor, Christopher Hernandez found the back of the net in the final seconds of the first half, tying the game a 2.

It would stay that way for most of the second half. OCC had a favorable wind and had a couple of excellent scoring chances, but Hornet keeper Cesar Ortega came up with three big saves in the final 45 minutes.

Finally, off a corner kick, the Hornets took the lead for good when Jose Preciado found the ball in a pile of players and slipped a shot past Fernandez and into the back of the net in the 88th minute.

OCC kicks off the second half of OEC play on Friday at Santiago Canyon, beginning at 3 p.m.