Men’s soccer: Pirates fall to Santa Ana

Tony Altobelli

SANTA ANA - It was a battle between Southern California’s top two

teams and in the end, the No. 2 Orange Coast College men’s soccer team

fell short at Santa Ana, 3-1, Friday afternoon.

For the Dons, their unbeaten streak is now at 64 (58-0-6) with the

Orange Empire Conference victory, while OCC is just another victim in

Santa Ana’s roll of supremacy.

“Santa Ana is a team that capitalizes on the other team’s mistakes and

they did just that today,” Pirates assistant coach Kevin Smith said.

“They’re a good team and when we play them at our place, hopefully, it

will be for a conference championship. But we’ve got a long way to go

before that.”

Sophomore forward Josh Miller managed to do something against the

top-ranked Dons (12-0-3, 7-0) that has happened only nine times all

season. He scored a goal.

Miller’s tally came in the 75th minute. With Santa Ana leading, 2-0,

and playing with a man advantage due to an OCC red card, a loose ball off

a free kick from Chris Wimmer found its way onto the foot of Miller, who

sent a point-blank shot into the lower-right corner of the goal, cutting

the lead to, 2-1.

“I actually thought we played better with 10 men than with 11,” Smith

said with a smile.

OCC’s momentum only lasted two minutes, however. A Pirates’ turnover

led to a two-on-one fast break the other way, where Ramon Torres ripped a

shot from about 20 yards out that went off of goalkeeper Hilario

Arriaga’s outstretched hands and into the upper-right corner of the goal.

“We definitely need to play with a lot more composure,” Smith said.

“Against these guys, we needed to be more patient. Santa Ana gave us more

breathing room than we anticipated. We have to react better to that.”

Both teams had early opportunities to score, but could not convert.

The Pirates had a two-on-one break toward the goal, but a bad pass ended

the threat. For the Dons, Torres had a shot tipped by Arriaga that grazed

the right goal post.

In the 32nd minute, Jose Antonio Salas sent in an awkward chip shot

that eluded Arriaga and found the top part of the goal for the game’s

first goal.

The Pirates had an opportunity to tie the score just seconds before

halftime when Aaron Siemers broke loose and drove to the net. His shot

was knocked away by the Dons’ goalkeeper and OCC remained a goal behind.

Santa Ana took advantage of a costly foul by the Pirates when

Alejandro Licea scored on a penalty kick in the 59th minute.

“That was a huge play against us,” Smith said. “If we don’t foul

there, our goal later ties the score and we can play for the tie, but

that wasn’t the case.”

Santa Ana outshot the Pirates, 19-7, while Arriaga (Estancia High)

made six saves.

“I thought Hilario did a great job for us in goal,” Smith said. “I

also thought that Spencer McDearmon stepped up for us when we were down a

man and played well defensively.”

OCC will play at Fullerton in a battle for second place in the OEC

Tuesday at 3 p.m. The Pirates won’t get a rematch with the Dons until

Nov. 6 in the conference finale.

“To make the playoffs, you have to finish in the top two and right

now, that No. 2 spot is anyone’s to grab,” Smith said.

Santa Ana has outscored its opponents, 29-3, in conference play and,

57-9, overall.

Despite the loss, OCC has won five of its last seven games.