Carson Ca., - Saturday night, the baby G’s threw a party at Dignity Health Sports Park (their Daddie’s house).  Nobody was invited, except a few girlfriends and the lads from Orange County Soccer Club. By the end of the night, the kids had been spanked and sent to bed without any dessert.

When you walk into a 27,000 seat stadium and no one is there, it becomes nothing more than a lonesome house good for shouting, “ECHO,” and little else.  It almost makes you feel bad for the home side.  However, after soundly thrashing LA Galaxy’s second team, 5-2, I doubt any Orange County Soccer followers feel all that bad.

Coming into the first 405 Derby of the 2022 campaign, Los Dos was in decent form, with three wins in their previous five matches.  OCSC, still struggling to find consistent form, posted just one win in its last five matches.  So much changed by the end of the night.

First Half

A headed goal from Preston Judd (his 12th on the year), in the 3rd minute had (I imagine) many County Line Coalition members throwing their hands in the air in frustration, thinking, ‘more of the same from our lackluster boys in Orange & Black.’  The situation didn’t improve much until the 32nd minute when Milan Iloski, with his left foot, (remember his left foot) caught G2 napping and threaded the ball between two defenders, finding Erick Torres just inside the 18. El Cubo set himself up with a nice first touch, giving himself just enough space and the angle to slot a left footed shot past goalie Eric Lopez.

Yellow cards to Torres (36th minute), Preston Judd dolphin diving, Tony Rocha (37th minute), Kervin Partida (41st minute) and Ian Hoffmann (44th minute) would close out the first half.

Whatever words the Gaffer said in the locker room at halftime, unequivocally worked!

The reigning champions came out of the locker room with fire none have seen since last fall.

Second Half

Twenty-four seconds into the 2nd half, Milan Iloski patiently zeroed in on a loose ball, let it roll for five yards, then blasted a rocket off the left post, past the keeper for his 13th of the year and a 2-1 OCSC lead.  An OCSC player would comment a few minutes later, something along the lines of, ‘I think his left foot is better than his right foot now.’ (Author’s note, I overheard that quote down on the end line as a couple of subs were warming up, but I forgot to ask if I could quote him. *Shoulder shrug emoji*, you know who you are.  If you read this, Can I quote you?)

After that banger from the youngest Iloski brother, the O&B were off to the races.  A mere two minutes later, Albi Skendi, the big defender from Albania took advantage of sloppy goalkeeping.  Finding a loose ball on the edge of the six, he hit the back of the net for his 3rd goal of the season.

In the 72nd minute, Alex Villanueva lofted the ball down the left side of the pitch, over the G2 defense. At full speed, Iloski gave the ball a brilliant first touch, freeing him for a 30 yard spring into the 18. Stopping just short of the end line, as the G2 defender collapsed onto the turf, Milan brought the ball onto his right foot and slotted it passed the keeper to the near post, for his 3rd brace and 14th goal of the season.

Now I, for one, feel bad for G2’s Dante Campbell.  I hope they got his ankles wrapped and iced because he might have broken them both after the move the goal scoring machine made.

Sean ‘Ugo’ Okoli finished the scoring barrage of the second half, left footing (after another brilliant pass through ball from Iloski) his first goal in 12 games.

Iloski for Iloski

The last highlight of the night came just after Ugo’s goal when Brian Iloski made his long awaited season debut.  Subbing on for his brother, both Milan and Brian couldn’t contain their smiles as the eldest Iloski brother took the pitch for the first time since last November.

Could this be the game that FINALLY turns the season around???

“Win or lose we will always follow you”

By The Numbers

Possession:

G2- 61%

OCSC- 39%

Shots on Target:

G2- 3 for 13

OCSC- 8 for 16

Saves

G2- 3 on 8

OCSC- 1 on 3

Fouls

G2- 11

OCSC-15

Corners

G2- 5

OCSC- 3

Offside

G2- 2

OCSC- 2