Amindari scores twice as Pirates top Mustangs

COSTA MESA -- In a year where Orange Coast College goalkeeper Nathan Brown has helped carry the Pirates into another solid season, on Friday, it was the Coast offense which returned the favor in a 2-1 win over visiting Norco College.

The Pirates (5-4-5 overall, 4-2-2 in the Orange Empire Conference) fell behind in the 22nd minute when a free kick opportunity by Norco's Ramon Hernandez bent around the Pirate wall and towards Brown, who got to the corner and appeared to be in position to make the save. However, the ball slipped through the arms of the standout netminder and rolled into the back of the net, giving the Mustangs (1-12-2, 0-8) a 1-0 lead.

But Brown and the Pirates would regroup and finally find some success against a shorthanded, but spirited Mustang team.

In the 38th minute, Estevan Silva sent in a free kick and the ball found the head of 6-3 Ramin Amindari, who banged his header past Norco goalkeeper Xavier Anguiano to tie things up at 1.

It stayed that way until the 74th minute, when a throw-in by Ryan Brown was deflected towards goal by Blake Mooney. Both teams tried to gain control of the loose ball but Amindari was first to it and his sliding shot found the upper-right corner of the goal, putting Coast ahead for good.

Nathan Brown would take over from there as he preserved OCC's advantage with seven big saves -- the biggest coming in the 80th minute when Carlos Uribe ripped a laser on goal, only to have it stopped by Brown.

The Mustangs applied more pressure in the final minutes, working three corner-kick opportunities, but all three times, the OCC defense kept the ball out of the goal.

Coast will now take to the road for three crucial conferences matches, starting on Tuesday at Santiago Canyon, beginning at 3 p.m. From there Coast travels to Cypress on Friday (3 p.m.) and Irvine Valley on Nov. 4 (3 p.m.) before returning home to play Golden West on Nov. 7 (3 p.m.).