Although a 1-3 loss at home is not how anyone wants to start the season; the score shouldn't stop the hype of what looks to be a strong fresh new squad for OCSC in 2023.
First Half
Louisville City came on very strong at the start of the match, stopping OC’s offensive attempts in their tracks and pushing hard on Orange County’s defense. With an early goal for Louisville in the 4th minute, the difference between a veteran squad like theirs, holding the league record of 21 returning players, against a fairly new roster showed that OC has a lot of growing to do as a unit. The opening goal was a strong cross into the box from Brian Ownby that connected with Niall McCabe’s head landing in the net on the far post. It was a sloppy defensive showing from right out the gate and Louisville capitalized on it.
However, an early goal did not stop OC from fighting with everything they had. The more the game went on, the better the squad’s chemistry got. The team got aggressive with highlights defensively showing through Kyle Scott, Andrew Fox, and Markus Nakkim. All of whom had some wonderful tackles and ball control. Nakkim especially had an amazing presence offensively as well, having multiple shots on goal throughout the entire match, proving that his signing will add a lot of depth to the team’s play.
Hope for Orange County arose when Kevin Partida got control near the end of the first half and a quick pass back and forth between him and Brent Richards resulted in an amazing goal into the top corner of the far post. This was Partida’s first goal for OCSC- such a stellar shot earned him the Man of The Match for OCSC and ended the half at 1-1.
Second Half
Despite allowing in two goals throughout the second half, this was when the team started to find their groove. Unfortunately, an early injury led Korede Osundina to come off in the 53rd minute, replaced by Ryan Doghman who came on to the pitch ready to prove himself.
The players on both sides were finding some struggles dealing with a wet pitch however, as some light rain began and players were losing their feet often for the rest of the match. One instance of slipping led to OC’s defense letting in Louisville's second goal in the 57th minute with another assist from Ownby to Cameron Lancaster who snuck it just past Colin Shutler.
Orange County wasn’t done fighting though; as the crowd grew louder, the team began to push harder and harder. With a couple of subs coming in at the 65th minute: Dillon Powers in for Kevin Partida and Ashish Chattha making his professional debut in for Kyle Scott.
These two players coming on completely changed the game and showed everyone that OCSC can be truly dangerous in 2023. Both Chattha and Powers were dynamic in their short and quick passes, creating many opportunities in the box that changed the whole pace of the game. Helped even more so when Bryce Jamison came on for Emil Nielsen in the 81st minute. These fresh players stepping onto the pitch finally gave Orange County their turn to put the pressure on.
Jamison came out with a ton of energy and fantastic ball control, his pressure on Louisville's defense opened up a lot of space for consistent shots that barely missed the net, such as Chattha’s amazing diving header in the box. Another opportunity that made the whole stadium hold their breath was when Powers crossed in an amazing ball to Doghman who shot a rocket that just narrowly hit the crossbar keeping Orange County from making it 2-2.
Unfortunately, Louisville found another opportunity as another sloppy long ball from the backline got quickly turned over on Orange County making the score 1-3 by the time the whistle blew.
Where To Improve
During the first half the team was very sloppy with their passes, focusing heavily on long balls that either missed their marks or were easily shut down by Louisville's defense. More concerning was how Louisville's turnovers seemed to constantly catch OC’s back line on their heels and their outside lines got steamrolled creating a very Louisville-heavy possessive first half. Ownby was a force that our wingbacks couldn’t seem to find an answer for.
Long-time CLC member, Matt Elder, spoke about what he wanted to see from the team after the first half, “My biggest concern is our lack of a [strong] number 6 that can play the destroyer role. We need someone to protect the back 4 and cover when needed, especially if we are going to have aggressive full/wing backs.”
It seems that the new captain, Daniel Pedersen, could potentially be the one to fill the role Elder wants to see, and even though he showed himself as a strong leader for the team this Saturday by always being there to support and fight for his fellow teammates when fouls were called and when set pieces needed organizing, there were still some parts of his play that left more to be desired. Hopefully, he can become that destroyer number 6 the team needs him to be on the field.
Looking Forward
Daniel Pedersen was able to comment on his thoughts of the match: “Second half we had some really good opportunities… we want to continue to press harder. Started the game a little too deep, but I think we figured it out the last 15 minutes.” Those last 15-20 minutes of the match showed exactly how this club can be dangerous in the upcoming season. Like our captain said, if they continue to press on and be a bit braver with attacks, we can be a force to reckon with.
Richard Chaplow, now on his third season as Head Coach, also had some thoughts to share about what the team hopes to work on in training this week to improve from this game and prepare for the next match against Tampa Bay Rowdies, “[We need to] continue to focus on being hard to beat defensively. The first and third goals were hard to swallow as we have practiced those situations a lot. Our transitions need to be much faster and stronger. Moving forward will be a heavy focus on the fundamentals to hammer home and stop goals from coming in." Those transitions are where Louisville really caught the defense off guard and took advantage. Louisville City didn't have a lot of shots or opportunities on goal throughout the match, but the few times they did lead to this loss. It's exciting to hear from both our captain and coach that the plan this season is a focus on being aggressive both offensively and defensively.
And although we may not have gotten the results we wanted, there is much to be excited about as the 2023 season kicks off.
Join us back at Championship Stadium this Saturday, March 18th against the Tampa Bay Rowdies.