Orange Coast College

Men's Soccer: Pirates blank Palomar, 3-0

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

COSTA MESA -- The Orange Coast College men's soccer team continued its winning ways on Tuesday, defeating Palomar, 3-0, at the OCC Soccer Complex.

After scoring seven goals in their season opener last week the Pirates (2-0) kept on rolling, scoring three goals in the first half of their game against the Comets (0-2).

Freshman midfielder Gustavo Ibarra scored a goal in the game's second minute. On the play, Ibarra raced up the middle with the ball, then fired a shot from 20 yards out and picked the upper-left corner of the net to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead.

Coast added to its lead when sophomore midfielder John Shinjo scored in the 25th minute with an assist by Briant Rodelo. Shinjo used a nice give-and-go touch-pass from Rodelo and beat the Comet goalkeeper with a shot into the lower-left corner.

Ibarra (pictured left) gave the Comets' defense no time to rest scoring his second goal just one minute later off a Shinjo assist, giving OCC a 3-0 advantage.

While the OCC offense continued its strong play, the Pirate defense kept the Comets off the scoreboard by turning away all 12 of Palomar's shot attempts. Goalie Jake Mahlstedt blanked Palomar with five saves. Freshman defender Colin Heim’s strong play, including an impressive blocked shot in the 45th minute of the game, helped secure the victory for the Pirates.

The second half of the game was a defensive stalemate, with both the Pirates and the Comets failing to score a goal. The Pirates did have a few scoring opportunities during the second half, but their fast breaks were stopped by the Comets’ defense and a Luis Parra shot rang off the crossbar in the game's final minutes.

The Pirates will return to action on Friday when they host Long Beach City, beginning at 4 p.m.