Orange Coast College

Men's Soccer: Pirates rally to top Irvine Valley, 3-2

Tuesday, October 06, 2009

IRVINE -- Whatever magic words are being uttered in the Orange Coast College men's soccer huddles at halftime, they're working as the Pirates used some more second-half heroics to top Irvine Valley 3-2 on Tuesday in Orange Empire Conference action.

Trailing 2-0 in the first half, the Pirates (6-4, 3-0 in OEC) began their comeback bid in the 58th minute when Antonio Gonzalez deflected a free kick from Will Munoz into the back of the net to make it 2-1.

Just seven minutes later, Shun Katashima ripped a free kick over the IVC wall and into the upper-left corner of the net to tie things up.

The Lasers (2-6-1, 0-3) played a man down for the final 23 minutes after a red card issued but OCC goalkeeper Brian Rippeto (five saves) came up big late in the game on a breakaway opportunity from IVC's Luis Miguel.

Finally, in the 87th minute Denny Perdomo sent in a cross-pass that found the foot of teammate Dean Regis and the freshman forward buried his shot into the back of the net to give OCC its second come-from-behind win in a row.

OCC returns to action on Friday at home against rival Golden West beginning at 3 p.m.