Men's Soccer: Short-handed Vikings rally for 3-2 come-from-behind win at OCC

COSTA MESA -- It was a long second half under the LeBard Stadium lights for the Orange Coast College men's soccer team. Leading 2-0 and up a player for most of the second half, the Pirates watched the visiting Vikings score three straight shorthanded goals to shock the hosts, 3-2, on Monday night.

Things looked good early on for the Pirates (0-2-1) as they scored two goals in the first 20 minutes of action. The first one came on a 2-on-1 break when Brandon Bauman slipped a nice touch-pass to teammate Baji Chela, who ripped a shot past Viking goalkeeper Francisco Magana in the 11th minute.

Nine minutes later, it was Chase Nugent, who slipped past the defense and sent a shot off a LBCC defender, but the ball rolled to Chela, who buried his second goal of the game, putting Coast up 2-0.

However, after that second tally, the Vikings regained control of the game and controlled play the rest of the first half, outshooting the Pirates 10-7 in the first 45 minutes of play. Despite the strong play by Long Beach, OCC's goalkeeper Connor Nelson managed to come up with key saves and kept his team up by two at the half.

Early in the second half, Viking midfielder Jonathon Rodriguez picked up two yellow cards on consecutive fouls over a six-minute span, putting LBCC down a man for the rest of the game.

The call seemed to further rejuvenate the guests as they went on the offensive. Just five minutes after being put shorthanded, Andre Martinez took advantage of a free kick just outside the OCC scoring box and ripped a shot past Nelson into the upper-left corner, cutting the deficit to 2-1.

Just eight minutes later, poor defensive execution by the Pirates enabled a long ball-carry on the foot of Jesse Castaneda (pictured) and the sophomore slipped a shot into the lower-right corner of the goal, tying the game at 2.

Finally, in the 79th minute, the Vikings grabbed the lead for good when Francisco Magallon sent a pass toward the OCC goal and teammate Anthony Dheming used a back-heel deflection and slipped the ball past Nelson for the game-winning goal.

Nelson and Magana each have seven saves in the game.

The Pirates will return to action on Wednesday at 3 p.m. against San Bernardino Valley at the OCC Soccer Complex.

- Game story courtesy Orange Coast College Sports Information

Photo by Jacob Rosborough, LBCC Viking newspaper