Orange Coast College

Men's Soccer: Pirates grind out 1-0 win over Rustlers

Friday, October 09, 2009

COSTA MESA -- Sometimes a 9-0 loss can be the best medicine for a men's soccer team. Just ask the Orange Coast College Pirates.

Since that Sept. 22 blowout to Cerritos, the Pirates have played their best soccer of the season, including a hard-fought 1-0 win against rival Golden West on Friday at the OCC Soccer Complex.

"It was a wake-up call for everyone on the team, including the coaches," OCC assistant coach Glenn Strachan said. "It's made us all work a little harder out here and since then, things have been very solid. Today was a big win for us against a very good Golden West team."

With the win, the Pirates (7-4 overall) remain atop the Orange Empire Conference at 4-0 with another big test -- Santa Ana (Tuesday, 3 p.m. at SAC) -- on the calendar.

Against the Rustlers (6-5, 2-2), a scoreless tie was finally broken in the 65th minute when Shun Katashima sent a free kick toward the Rustlers' goal, where it was deflected by freshman forward Dean Regis past GWC goalkeeper Bill Hambleton (seven saves) and into the back of the net.

With a couple of Pirate players banged up and unable to play, other Pirate defenders -- led by sophomore Luis Gallardo -- were able to keep the Rustlers off the scoreboard. OCC goalkeeper Brian Rippeto came up big in the first half with a sprawling save and finished the game with seven saves to preserve the shutout -- the team's first shutout since Sept. 4 against Palomar.

Following Tuesday's game with the Dons, the Pirates will return to the OCC Soccer Complex on Friday at 3 p.m. against Fullerton.