May 6th, Match #9 - Orange County SC vs San Diego Loyal SC
OC Open Up Karlsen Era With South Coast Derby
For Orange County, Saturday May 6th could be a very important day.
First, it will be the inaugural game under interim-head coach Morten Karlsen who was announced as new manager on May 1 following the dismissal of Richard Chaplow. That in itself is enough to make Saturday a big day but the fact that it will be against San Diego just makes the game much more important.
The OC-SD rivalry has been quite an even series with both teams having won away games and seen high-profile players don both kits. While only 79 miles separate the two clubs, the standings tell a different story. Through 8 league games played, Orange County currently sit in 11th with 6 points, 2 points behind the playoff. San Diego are sitting in 3rd with 14 points.
THE OPPONENT - SAN DIEGO LOYAL SC
San Diego Loyal SC are in their fourth season in club history and have been pretty good to this point, only missing the playoffs in their inaugural season. While the playoff success has been lacking, San Diego Loyal nevertheless is a club that consistently competes at the top levels of the league. San Diego also started this year with a new man in the Coaches chair, as Nate Miller took over the reins after Landon Donovan moved to a front-office role.
While the Loyal have picked up impressive wins against their Eastern Conference matchups, it has been the games against Western Conference games that have been inconsistent. Wins against Tampa Bay and Detroit City are countered by losses to El Paso and Sacramento and a draw against New Mexico. The team also was eliminated from the Open Cup after a thrilling 9-goal extra time defeat to Seattle Sounders FC.
San Diego will be looking for their first win away from Torero Stadium. In three away league games, the Loyal have only picked up two points.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Saturday will serve as a homecoming match for one of Orange County’s fan favorites. Forward Ronaldo Damus only played one season for Orange County but had a very good one in that. Leading OC through the regular season and playoffs with 18 goals in 31 appearances was good enough to earn him USL Championship Finals MVP and a cap with the Haitian National Team. Following the season Damus signed on with Swedish side GIF Sundsvall and spent one season there. Then in 2023, as a part of a loan, Damus was moved over to San Diego. With San Diego, Damus has made 7 appearances and scored 2 goals. Both goals came in games against Phoenix.
Mentioned before is the fact that a number of players have played for both sides of the rivalry. Damus is one example of this but another is that of Thomas Amang. The Cameroonian center forward spent 2022 with San Diego and scored 11 goals and made the surprise move up the 5 freeway during the offseason. Amang has made 5 appearances with the Boys in Orange thus far and will look for his first league goal to be against his former club.
THE MATCHUP
As it stands, OC’s all time record against the Loyal is 3-4-3. Last season the Loyal took the season series by winning two of three. However the last matchup saw a last place Orange County force a draw against a much better Loyal side. This will be the first game in charge for interim-head coach Morten Karlsen. The Danish former midfielder has had previous head coaching experience being on the staff at FC Nordsjælland, AGF, and served as the head coach of HG Køge from 2018-2019. This will be Karlsen’s first head coaching game in North America.
WHAT TO KNOW
Game - vs San Diego Loyal SC (USL Championship)
When - May 6, 7:00 PM PST
Where - Championship Soccer Stadium (Irvine, CA)
OCSC Form - LLLWL
SDL Form - LLWDW
All-Time Matchup - 3-4-3
TV - Bally Sports SoCal, ESPN+