Women’s Soccer: OCC shuffles up offense
The Orange Coast College women’s soccer team Illustrated Tuesday the difference between being on a roll and getting the ball rolling.
The former refers to the Pirates’ 3-0 start in Orange Empire Conference play. But the latter involves kick-starting a modestly productive offense in a 3-0 triumph over visiting Fullerton.
OCC (5-1-1), which had seven goals in its first six games, with never more than two in any contest, produced a team hat trick against the struggling Hornets (3-5, 0-3), who have now been outscored in their last four losses, 14-2.
A shift in the lineup proved catalytic for OCC, as Coach Kevin Smith shifted sophomore defender Juliet Janssen to outside midfield, and nudged Devan Ellison from defensive midfield to an attacking midfield spot.
Ellison responded with a pair of goals, while Janssen had a goal and an assist, and generating many more chances with her speed along the right wing.
“I was trying to make it happen,” said Janssen, a Newport Beach native who played at Mater Dei High. “Normally, it’s defense for me. Last game, I man-marked. But in this one, Kevin really wanted me to make those runs and kind of utilize my speed to get around [defenders].
“I enjoy [getting forward more],” Janssen said. “It’s definitely more tiring, but it’s a lot more fun making stuff happen, creating opportunities for my teammates. And, getting runs for myself is always fun.”
Ellison, a sophomore, opened the scoring in the 32nd minute by heading in a corner kick from sophomore midfielder Jordan Bradley.
But while the Pirates posted a 6-1 advantage in shots in the first 45 minutes, Smith said he was far from satisfied.
“I thought it was kind of an uninspired [first] half,” Smith said. “I think we knew we were better than [the Hornets] and we were just OK being a little bit better than them. It just wasn’t good enough. In the second half, we [coaches] wanted to see us play with more urgency. We don’t want our players to just do enough to beat the team in front of them. We want them to try to be a better team, more exciting and more intense. And we wanted them to play 45 minutes from start to finish.”
Janssen ran onto a gentle service near midfield from freshman forward Samantha Sandzmier, then used her speed to beat a defender and carry the ball to about 10 yards in front. She then delivered a shot inside the far post to beat a helpless goalkeeper just three minutes into the second half.
OCC continued to create chances, upping its shot advantage to 17-2.
Finally, Janssen beat a defender on the wing, carried away from the sideline and delivered a cross to Ellison, who settled the ball and fired it past the goalie to finalize the scoring in the 80th minute.
“[Janssen] was doing really well on the right side,” Ellison said. “I’m not really used to playing offensive mid and I wasn’t expecting to today. But I think we kind of needed a push, so I took that and tried to get the girls going.
“[In practice], we’ve been working more on offense,” Ellison said. “We kind of got the ball rolling a little more.”
OCC freshman goalkeeper Jordyn Gressier made two saves to record her fourth shutout.
With her two goals, Ellison took over the team lead in that category with three.
Janssen’s goal and assist were her first of the season. She became the sixth player to score and the fifth to record an assist for the Pirates this season.
“We don’t really have one go-to player,” said Smith, whose team was without three starters due to injuries, including a knee injury to sophomore defender Karla Romero that Smith said could be season-ending. “We’re looking for various players to pitch in and score goals. The way [Janssen] scored her goal is kind of what we’ve been wanting from her. She is a little more defensive minded, but she can be so good in the attack.”
OCC resumes the attack on Friday, when it visits Cypress at 3 p.m.
Twitter: @BarryFaulkner5