Orange Coast College

Men's Soccer: Pirates settle for scoreless tie against Fullerton

Friday, October 17, 2008

COSTA MESA -- It was a game dominated in just about every statistical category EXCEPT goals for the Orange Coast College men's soccer team on Friday against Fullerton.

The Pirates controlled things from the opening whistle, but had to settle for a 0-0 tie with the first-place Hornets in Orange Empire Conference action at the OCC Soccer Complex.

Coast outshot the Hornets 15-6 and had several top-quality scoring opportunities, but just couldn't find the back of the net.

In the 61st minute, things looked good for Coast (6-6-2, 2-2-2 in conference) as a penalty kick was awarded after a Pirate player was shoved to the turf inside the Hornets' scoring box.

However, Scotty Locken's PK attempt just missed to the left of the goal post and the game remained scoreless.

In the game's final seconds, Locken again had a solid opportunity when a loose ball trickled to his feet down the left side, but his shot sailed just over the crossbar.

Early on, Brian Siemonsma tried to back-kick a shot into the net, but the shot was kicked away by a Fullerton defender.

The game's first shot had "goal" written on it, but a nice play by Gutierrez kept the ball out of the goal.

Fullerton's best chance came in the first half on a 1-on-1 opportunity, but defender Eduardo Garcia used his head to deflect the ball away from danger.

With five more corner kicks and four more free-kick opportunities, the Pirates kept peppering the ball toward the Hornets' net, but nothing was able to break through. Fullerton's goalkeeper Eduardo Gutierrez posted seven saves.

OCC's keeper Brian Rippeto had three saves in a game that saw eight yellow cards handed out (Fullerton 5, OCC 3).

The Pirates return to action on Tuesday at home against Cypress, beginning at 4 p.m.