Women’s Soccer: OCC opens playoffs at home

The Orange Coast College women’s soccer team earned a No. 15 seed in the Southern California Regional playoffs and will host No. 18-seeded San Diego Mesa on Thursday at 2 p.m.

The winner of Thursday’s matchup will play at No. 2-seed Rio Hondo on Saturday, at 2 p.m.

The Pirates (11-5-4), who finished tied for third in the Orange Empire Conference, are playing their best soccer of the season, going 7-1-1 down the stretch after a 1-2-3 start.

Leading the way for the OCC offense has been the 1-2 punch of sophomore Cori Haney and freshman Sydnee Busby. Haney has a team-best 11 goals and 26 points (two points for a goal and one for an assist), while Busby has nine goals and 21 points.

Sophomore goalkeeper Odalis Elias has 11 shutouts, 10 wins and an 0.75 goals-against average for OCC.

San Diego Mesa (13-7-1) is also hot, having gone 13-2 in its last 15 contests, including an 8-0 mark in the Pacific Coast Conference South Division.

— From staff reports