CYPRESS, CA – The No. 8 Cypress College's men's soccer team (7-0-2, 0-0-1 OEC) opened Orange Empire Conference play at home Friday afternoon against the Orange Coast Pirates (7-1-2, 1-0-1 OEC) ending in a draw, 1-1.
The first half of play was very competitive between the two teams. Each team had very close looks early on to set the intensity for the match. In the 5th minute, Pirates' freshman forward, John Cisneros, missed his shot by inches with a deflection off the goal post.
The Chargers answered back with a few close shots that were saved by Orange Coast goalkeeper, Pablo Ramirez, including a shot by Lorenzo La Violette missing just wide of the post. After both teams contested each other several times with close plays within the box and a combine 11 saves neither side could find the back of the net before the half ended.
The second half of play began quickly with a Charger goal by Jake You assisted by La Violette (46:00) to give Cypress the go-ahead, 1-0. The Pirates quickly responded about two minutes later, when one of the Charger defenders was called for a hand ball in the box and rewarded Orange Coast with a penalty kick. Cisneros got his revenge and found the back of the net to tie the match, 1-1.
Both teams continued to fight for the win with great defensive tactics, especially Chargers' defender, Connor Fitzgerald, who had several key plays in the afternoon. After a long, hard fought battle between the two teams the Orange Empire contest ended in a tie, 1-1.
The Cypress men's soccer team will continue conference play next Tuesday, October 8th at Santiago Canyon starting play at 3:00 pm.
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