Orange County SC made the trip up north this weekend to face off against the Oakland Roots, who completely dominated the match and sent OC home with a 3-0 loss.
FIRST HALF
As the boys in Orange and Black took the pitch, there were some notable changes to the lineup for this week; most concerning was to see two of the team's midfielders, Dillon Powers and Daniel Pedersen, filling in as center backs. This choice put much fear in fans from the start that the defense would struggle without Markus Nakkim and Andrew Fox available to play.
Oakland made the first strong attack on goal in the 10th minute of the match, starting with a deep cross to Edgardo Rito on the outside line. He caught Orange County off guard and opened some space for Salvadoran midfielder Bryan Tamacas in OC's box. He took a quick volley that barely went over the crossbar. Although, oddly, the player in Orange who was in a position to try and stop the shot was striker Milan Iloski, the questionable CBs for this match were nowhere to be found and, unfortunately, proved early that the fears about this defensive line were valid.
Orange County almost had an excellent opportunity come from their first corner of the night; Ashish Chattha was a welcome change as the designated kicker for the set piece and sent a rocket toward the box. The ball got cleared out, but not for long, as Ryan Doghman found it again and sent it forward to Milan, who looked as if he would have a wide-open shot on goal, but unfortunately, he couldn’t find the right touch to control the pass and the attack fizzled out.
In the 30th minute of the match, Orange County made some critical mistakes too far back on their half of the pitch, starting with a poor pass backward from Brent Richards that was quickly picked up by Oakland and taken into the box. They made a cross to the middle that Powers attempted to block, but the ball bounced off his foot, and striker Dariusz Formella picked up the deflection for a shot on goal that opened the scoreline and gave the Oakland Roots a 1-0 lead.
That goal completely took the wind out of Orange County's sails. A collection of sloppy passes and a lack of aggression on the ball kept possession mostly at Oakland's feet. The Roots continued to push on the final third of the pitch, eagerly looking for a second goal, while OCSC felt lost in their desire to make a comeback. All of that came to fruition for the home team during the 43rd minute with a corner kick headed into the net by Tarek Morad.
SECOND HALF
The same issues continued for OCSC as many of their passes found the opposing team and prevented any counterattack chances. The Roots kept control of the midfield and kept the heat on County's defense. Bryce Jamison had to come back on defense to make up for the lackluster backline in order to stop a shot on goal from Oakland early in the half.
Head Coach, Morten Karlsen, made a couple of subs in the 58th minute bringing on Marc McNulty and Seth Casiple to replace Jamison and Brian Iloski with hopes of giving the offense some fresh legs and needed energy. Ten minutes later, Owen Lambe also came in for Richards, making his season debut. He made his presence known instantly with a fantastic cross in the middle of the box, but McNulty sadly fumbled it, resulting in another missed chance for Orange County to regain control of the game.
They had another incredibly close attempt on goal with a perfect chip pass from Chattha; Milan connected his head to it, but the ball narrowly went wide. As frustrating as it was to watch another missed finish, Orange County finally looked like they were playing with the desire to score.
Johnny Rodriguez came on for the first sub by Oakland and immediately impacted his team when he pushed on after being fouled by Pedersen and passed to Edgardo Rito on the right side for a shot on goal that widened their lead to 3-0.
More season debuts came in for Orange County in the 83rd minute with two youth players, 18-year-old Ashton Miles on defense and 16-year-old Ben Norris in the midfield. But, sadly, their additions were not enough to make a dent in the scoreline, and Oakland came out victorious when the final whistle was blown.
OVERVIEW:
The absence of both Nakkim and Fox in this match was felt hugely throughout the 90 minutes, with a lack of CB depth leaving Orange County SC struggling to keep back Oakland’s attacks. Injuries have plagued the team throughout the season, but the club needs to find an answer in their lineup soon, or they will continue to get dominated by the opposition. Despite a few good moments from Chattha and Lambe, OCSC looked uninspired in their play.
For fans, watching this team's lack of chemistry in their performance gets more frustrating each week. In ten games, they have only one win. But, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, it still isn’t time to entirely give up hope for a potential playoff spot. Karlsen is only on his second match as head coach, so it may take some time for him to reshape this team into a group that can win. However, the possibility of a comeback is dwindling as the season progresses.
Next week the team will have two tough home matches to play. First, they face off against the undefeated Sacramento Republic on Wednesday, May 17th, and then a rival match-up on Saturday, the 20th, against Phoenix Rising.