Pirates win impressively in debut

COSTA MESA — Orange Coast College men’s soccer coach Laird Hayes said every practice is an opportunity to get a starting spot.

In the Pirates’ season opener, freshman forward Juan Meza took full advantage of his opportunity.

Meza scored two goals, helping lead an efficient OCC team to a 3-0 nonconference victory over Moorpark.

He scored in the 14th minute, taking a through ball from Matt Schirmer, beating two defenders and the sliding Moorpark goalie and angling a soft shot into the net.

Meza also had the game’s last goal in the 86th minute, gaining possession of a bouncing ball in the box and firing it past the goalie at the near post.

“Since I’m a freshman, it was good for me,” Meza said. “I really want to keep myself on the field and be a starter. I put that one goal away early and just kept going.”

It was only part of a solid effort from the Pirates, who controlled possession for most of the game.

Freshman Kyle Ciandella scored OCC’s second goal in the 34th minute.

Ian Cone, sprinting down the far side, slanted an accurate cross in to Ciandella, who kicked it out of the air and into the net.

OCC starting goalie Alex Roberts needed to make just three saves in the first half, and backup Erik Torres made a single save in the second half to preserve the shutout.

Defenders Yuuki Irei, Adam Hare, Dylan Rolfe and Corona del Mar High product Grant Almquist all helped to keep Moorpark at bay, and Amir Kazemi controlled the midfield for the Pirates for most of the day.

“We’ve got more fitness this year,” said Irei, a sophomore who returns from last year’s 13-7-5 squad. “And we have better players who have more height and are more physical.

“In the beginning, I was kind of scared because games are different from practice,” he added. “But overall, it was all right.”

Moorpark had its best scoring chance early in the game. Following a through ball in the 12th minute, forward Paul Lupanon got in a one-on-one situation with goalie Roberts.

But Lupanon’s shot sailed well over the net, and the Raiders had trouble threatening after that.

“I like the work ethic of our kids,” Hayes said. “They’re hungry … We’re just outstanding defensively, and we’ve got a lot of returning players.”

The game got more physical late in the second half. Moorpark picked up three of its four yellow cards late in the game, and OCC got two of its own. But the Pirates, for the most part, didn’t let it detract from their play.

“We’re used to it,” Irei said. “The coaches just said, ‘Just keep playing the game and don’t let them get to you.’ ”

Torres’ one save came in the final minute, when he leaped to grab the ball in traffic after a Moorpark corner kick.

Meza said that although it was the team’s first game, he can already sense that the Pirates are playing well.

“We have good chemistry on the team,” he said. “We know each other, and we know what we want to do. It’s college, so we catch on real fast.”

Hayes said that although the team is set, roles are still up in the air.

“What I really liked was that almost all of our players got in,” he said. “But we’re still evaluating. We want to know who are the guys we can count on to play certain roles.”

The Pirates play at Rio Hondo College on Friday at 3 p.m.