Orange County SC has struggled to make a splash in the winning column as of late. Will the 2021 champions turn things around when they visit the second place team of the USL Championship Eastern Conference, Louisville City on Saturday June 18th 5:00 PM pacific at the Lynn Family Stadium?
It seems like last year's historic championship victory was far in the past for Orange County SC as they see themselves in second to last place in the Western Conference. If the reigning champs want to defend their championship in the playoffs they have to find a way back into the winning column and it has to start now. County has been on a decline as of late with only 14 points in 14 matches. It seems that Louisville and Orange County are polar opposites as Louisville sits in second place of the Eastern Conference with a whopping 27 points in 14 matches. After Louisville’s 1-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Rowdies on June 5th and Orange County’s 3-0 loss to the Las Vegas Lights on June 11th, both teams are looking for any sort of momentum heading into Saturday's game. With the loss of 18 year old sensation Kobi Henry who now joins Stade Reims through a USL transfer record deal as a center back, how will Orange County SC fare without the 18 year old who was beginning to make an impact as a starter for OCSC?
In the past five games, Orange County has a total of two draws and three losses as they have struggled on the defensive side. Ever since that impressive 5-1 win against FC Tulsa on May 13th the reigning champions have not won a single game struggling on both the defensive side and struggling to maintain a victory in the second half of the game. Meanwhile, Louisville has a couple of hard losses in the last five games of the season with two wins and three losses. Louisville’s last win was May 28th which coincidentally was also against FC Tulsa. Both teams have seen setbacks while Louisville has seen some minor setbacks, Orange County has seen major setbacks, one being the loss of a very promising player in Kobi Henry. With the loss of 18 year old sensation Kobi Henry who now joins Stade Reims through a USL transfer record deal as a center back, how will Orange County SC fare without the 18 year old who was beginning to make an impact as a starter for OCSC? How will Louisville answer back after the loss on the road as they have home field advantage against a struggling Orange County team?
The game will be played Saturday June 18th at 5:00 pm Pacific at the Lynn Family Stadium in the Butchertown neighborhood of Louisville, Kentucky. For those watching from the comfort of your home, the match is available on ESPN+.
Potential Line Ups:
Louisville City:
GK: Kyle Stuart Morton
Defense: Oscar Jimenez, Sean Totsch, Joshua Wynder, Amadou Dia
Midfield: Corben Bone, Tyler Gibson, Paolo Del Piccolo
Forwards: Brian Ownby, Cameron Lancaster, Jorge Gonzalez
Orange County SC:
GK: Patrick Rakovsky
Defense: Ahmed Longmire, Albi Skendi, Michael Orozco, Alex Villanueva
Midfield: Daniel Pedersen, Tommy McCabe, Mikko Kuningas
Forwards: Sean Okoli, Erick Torres, Milan Iloski