Pirates fight off Hawks to earn scoreless tie
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Santiago Canyon (7-2-4, 4-0-3) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
Orange Coast (6-5-3, 4-2-1) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
COSTA MESA -- Leila Saldic refused delivery on all shots from Santiago Canyon shots and helped lead the Orange Coast College women's soccer team to a hard-fought scoreless tie with the first-place Hawks on Tuesday at the OCC Soccer Complex.
Saldic took on the entire rainbow of shot selections against the Hawks and kept SCC (7-2-4, 4-0-3 in the Orange Empire Conference) with 13 saves. She was also aided with a pair of shots that rang off of the crossbar, but so did SCC goalkeeper Grayton Normand, who saw far less action and had two saves in the stalemate.
In addition to the strong play of Saldic, several Pirate defenders -- including Finley Doucette, Grace Graham, Kennedy Heimer and Jaslyn Cifuentes, among others -- stepped up and gave the Hawks their second consecutive scoreless draw in a row, equaling the effort Cypress put on SCC in Friday's 0-0 score.
Saldic was the story of the afternoon, stopping several ripped shot attempts from just outside the box and not allowing any rebounds for goals. She also stepped up on several corner-kick opportunities and punched away anything remotely dangerous.
Late in the first half, Finley Doucette had OCC's best chance to score but her shot attempt hit the bottom of the crossbar and did not cross the goal line. Santiago Canyon returned the favor in the 63rd minute of a shot by Gigi Brono.
With the tie, the Pirates (6-5-3, 4-2-1) earned solid power points in the RPI standings and are right in the thick of things near the OEC Standings with Cypress (5-0-2), Saddleback (5-0-2) and the Hawks (4-0-3) after the first round of conference play.
Coast will kick off Round 2 at home against Golden West on Friday, beginning at 3 p.m.
