Community college soccer: OEC standoff

Steve Virgen

COSTA MESA - Regret can be an ugly enemy. But, Orange Coast College

men’s soccer assistant coach Kevin Smith believes his players’ bouts with

what-ifs will serve as a wake-up call.

After outplaying, outhustling and outshooting visiting Orange Empire

Conference foe Cypress, the Pirates settled for a scoreless tie Friday.

OCC outshot the Chargers, 13-2, and in the second half, the Pirates

applied extreme offensive pressure, but with no result.

“Maybe we took (Cypress) a little too lightly” said Smith, who

fulfilled the head coaching duties as Laird Hayes was absent. “This

should be a wake-up call for these guys, that every game is going to be

difficult to win.”

The Pirates’ difficulty was in taking advantage of their

opportunities. Midway through the first half, freshman Stanton Duke was

about to finish off a breakaway, but Cypress goalie Neil Gilbert, who

recorded eight saves, guessed right and slapped away his shot.

OCC (5-4-2, 2-0-1 in the OEC) actually drew closer to scoring in the

second half. In the 70th minute, freshman Dante Zena nearly scored when

his shot from 15 yards out hit the crossbar. Five minutes later, Chris

Coburn sent a corner kick toward the goal, but Duke’s header bounced into

traffic and out of bounds.

“We should’ve (beat Cypress),” Zena said. “They knew they were beat

before the game. We had them, but we couldn’t finish the opportunities. I

was pretty frustrated when (my shot) hit the crossbar. I’ll be thinking

about that one tonight.’

Cypress (1-6-2, 0-1-2) also must have experienced regret as the

Chargers could not capitalize on a key opportunity. Alvin Alvarez smacked

a shot off the right post in the 79th minute, for the Chargers’ final

shot of the game.

The Pirates, who started the year 1-4, have won four out of their last

six with two ties. OCC goalie Joey Balbas, who finished with one save,

earned his third shutout in four games.

“That game is a perfect example of what we are,” Smith said. “We are a

strong and stingy team. We have to work extra hard to find the back of

the net. In this game, we didn’t play the full 90 minutes.”