Rustlers remain unbeaten

Sitting atop the standings midway through the Orange Empire Conference schedule, Golden West College men’s soccer coach Alex Gimenez said his unbeaten Rustlers have a target on their backs.

But after earning a 1-0 road victory over a spirited Orange Coast squad on Tuesday to remain in position to collect their third OEC crown in six seasons, the Rustlers appear more focused on bearing a championship standard than bearing any burden.

“They know who they are as a team right now, so hopefully they don’t lose that,” Gimenez said after Andres Guerra’s goal in the 19th minute lifted Golden West to 9-0-4, 5-0-2 in conference. “They are hard-working, they are going to battle for every ball, and at the end of the game, we’ll see where we’re at.”

The Rustlers won for the third straight match, the fifth in their last six, and the eighth in their last 10. They posted an 11-8 shot advantage and produced their fourth shutout of the season, their first since a one-goal triumph over El Camino-Compton Center on Sept. 16.

Golden West, which won conference titles in 2014 and 2012 and was second last season, prevailed without its top scorer. Sophomore forward Anthony Saldana, who has six goals and four assists, received a yellow card in the opening minutes and watched the rest of the contest from the bench.

“[Saldana] got a quick yellow and he wasn’t clicking, so we prefer to save him,” Gimenez said. “He’s a big part of our offense, but we thought we could pull it off without him.”

Guerra’s sixth goal of the season, a header inside the left post from the doorstep with service on a bending free kick from freshman Ivan Pineda, was all the Rustlers needed to earn their fifth straight shutout victory over the Pirates (3-6-3, 1-4-2).

It was also validation for Gimenez’s lack of concern about complacency against an OCC unit that is 0-5-2 in its last seven games after a 3-1-1 start.

“It depends on the team,” Gimenez said about potential to overlook opponents not in the upper echelon of the conference. “If you were to see my team at practice, you’d see they are a hard-working team of grinders. So I’m not worried. I know sooner or later they are going to get that goal and it’s hard for other teams to score on us.”

Golden West goalkeepers Josue Catarino (first half) and Medardo Garcia had one and two saves, respectively.

OCC’s offense has been hampered by the loss of sophomore forward Peter Marquez, a Costa Mesa High product, who is out for the season with a broken foot. Marquez’s five goals are still tied for tops on the team, though he has now missed five games.

But OCC Associate Head Coach Glenn Strachan said his team played to his expectations Tuesday.

“We asked the kids to play hard and they did,” Strachan said. “There was tons of energy. We were a little bit unfortunate on the goal, but Golden West has some good players and they are a good team.”

Among the standouts for the Rustlers was sophomore forward Mark Hernandez, whose dribbling skills helped him create three strong scoring chances. But Hernandez, who has verbally committed to Cal State Fullerton, did not add to his season totals of three goals and six assists.

Golden West, which begins the second half of conference play at home against Santa Ana on Friday, has 17 points (three for a win and one for a tie), two better than Irvine Valley and three better than Santa Ana.

“Any day, any bad game can put you in third place,” Gimenez said.