Orange County Begin Their Quest for a Second Championship
For the first time in 691 days, Orange County Soccer Club will play in a postseason game.
It is one of the most impressive single-season turnarounds that the USL has seen in recent memory. After only winning one of their first ten league games of the year, the Orange and Black have stormed through the league to clinch the number two seed in the Western Conference as well as number four overall in the USL. It truly is a testament to the work of Morten Karlsen and his technical staff for the turnaround that OCSC experienced. More often than not, the bounces on and off the field have gone in favor of Orange County and the 2023 USL playoffs are the perfect chance for OC to win another title.
Of course there are 15 other teams who have a chance at the title as well. Thus in the first round of the playoffs, Orange County will host a team that they have yet to beat this year: El Paso Locomotive FC.
THE OPPONENT - EL PASO LOCOMOTIVE FC
It was not an easy path for the Locomotive. El Paso squeaked into the postseason on the final day of play with a 2-1 win in Oakland. This is El Paso’s fourth postseason appearance and comes after the club failed to qualify last year; their first time missing it. El Paso began their 2023 season by not losing their first 16 games including a seven-game win streak in the middle of it. That run included a 1-0 victory, in Texas, over Orange County which began the winning streak. However they were not able to replicate the early season success and that landed them in the spot they are in now. In fact, El Paso needed to win and only win their last game just to qualify.
It is the first season for head coach Brian Clarhaut and he was able to return El Paso back to the postseason. El Paso does not have the most impressive of stats with both the offense and defense ranking in the bottom half of the league. Yet even with all this, El Paso were one of 3 teams in the West that OC were not able to defeat during the regular season. El Paso are also the best team away from home in the West going 8-5-4 outside of West Texas. They are a team that Orange County cannot take lightly.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
In all honesty, there are not really any stand-out position players for El Paso. That is not to say they do not have quality players as they obviously do. Yet there is no one on the roster that truly stands out in any statistical category. However this may come into the favor for El Paso as it may be a characteristic of them being a complete team that is not top heavy. Of course there are a couple of players that can impact the game for the Locomotive and the first is that of Eric Calvillo. Calvillo is one of the 18 that won Orange County their first cup back in 2021 and is now in his second season with El Paso. Calvillo has emerged as one of the best players for the Locomotive and will look to upset his former team. With a defense that ranks on the lower side, the goalkeeper has to play to the best of his ability. For El Paso this has mostly happened thanks in part to that of Benny Diaz. Diaz has been so good for his side that he is tied for fourth in the USL in saves with 93 while also tied for fifth in clean sheets. El Paso is realistically going to play defense the entire game and will need Diaz to come up big.
On the Orange side of things we are going to look at four different players and how they have helped their side return to the postseason. Those four players are Brian Iloski, Dillon Powers, Brent Richards, and Seth Casiple. The one thing that is in common for all four of those players, they are all that is left of the 2021 team. Brian Iloski has made 27 appearances for OC scoring two goals and having four helpers. Likewise both of those goals came from outside the 18. Next is Dillon Powers who might have the most important role for OC. The former midfielder has since switched positions and has gone from starting in the midfield to now starting on the backline. In his spot he has appeared in 31 of 34 games. Brent Richards and Seth Casiple have each taken up new roles on the club with both of them taking up more leadership roles from the bench. All four of these players should be commended for their time with the club, during the good times and the bad.
THE MATCHUP
If one team has had the number of Orange County in recent memory, it’s El Paso. These two teams did play a little over a month ago in what ended up being a 0-0 draw that snapped a 9 game streak of consecutive wins for OC. All-time Orange County has only beaten the Locomotive once. Likewise if OC are to even score this Saturday, it would be their first goal against El Paso in 2023. To add insult to injury Orange County are going to be without the services of both Kevin Partida and Marc McNulty who will be serving suspensions from red cards picked up during the regular season. El Paso does not have anyone suspended.
This will be the first postseason matchup between the two clubs. All time Orange County is 3-4 in their first game of their postseason appearances while El Paso are 2-1.
WHAT TO KNOW
Game - vs El Paso Locomotive FC (USL Championship - WC QF).
When - October 21, 7:30 PM PST
Where - Championship Soccer Stadium (Irvine, CA)
OCSC Form - WWWDL
ELP Form - WLDWD
All-Time Matchup - 1-3-4
TV - ESPN+
