COMMUNITY COLLEGE ROUNDUP : Lawson Lifts Orange Coast to Conference Soccer Title

Keri Lawson’s second-half goal gave host Orange Coast 1-0 victory over Cypress and the Orange Empire Conference women’s soccer title Friday in a physical game in which several players took hard falls.

It’s the first conference title since 1989 for Orange Coast, which ends the regular season with a 14-1-2, 10-0 record. The Pirates beat Cypress, 2-1, earlier this season.

“We hung in there despite the roughness,” OCC Coach Barbara Bond said. “We said from the start that the depth would be the difference and it was.”

Orange Coast dominated play early but lost two starters to injury.

Neither team scored in the first half but Lawson got free about 20 yards out, controlled the ball, and drove a shot into the left corner of the net with about 15 minutes left to play. Lawson had also scored in the earlier victory over Cypress (16-2-2, 8-2), which finished second and also makes the playoffs.