To close out the month of June, Orange County SC traveled away for a battle against Detroit City FC. Another important shutout and win put OCSC back in the playoff race!

FIRST HALF

One of the most interesting stats about Detroit City this season is how they have yet to come back from a losing position, giving Orange County a clear goal to score as early as possible in the match. It didn't take long for them to try and capitalize on this plan with two solid offensive pushes. One was from Marc "Sparky" McNulty, who took a shot from just outside the box, and another from Ryan Doghman, who sent in a dangerous cross. Despite these chances not bearing fruit, it was a great sign to see the boys in orange and black attack so dangerously only minutes into the match.

Dillon Powers tried to get fancy in the thirteenth minute after a deflection from Owen Lambe’s corner came toward Powers high in the center of the box. He jumped and attempted a bicycle kick, but the shot, unfortunately, went over the net, and he just missed that highlight reel moment.

Detroit City has been known all season for their well-built back line, leaving Orange County desperate to find the cracks in the defense. Either through a long ball up, quick passes down the outside lines, or drawing the defense away from Milan Iloski, they showed promise in their ability to mix things up in the midfield and look for a way to break through and force the opposition to make a mistake.

Milan's first attempt at goal showed just how hungry he was to open up the scoring in this match. After a pass from Kevin Partida in the middle, Milan made a quick turn and dribbled it up, taking a shot on goal from a few yards outside the box. His first shot may have gone too wide, but only a few minutes later, he found the ball again from a poor defensive deflection in the box where he could head the ball into the far corner of the net and gave Orange County an early 1-0 lead.

Kyle Scott continued to be a highlight in the midfield with some brilliant and decisive passes that kept the pressure on Detroit City's defense. With Partida back in the starting lineup as well, those two are crucial with their ability to control possession and press high to create those counterattack opportunities.

In a crazy sequence of events, Sparky stole the ball at the half-line after a failed corner attempt from Detroit. He pushed forward a little bit, saw the keeper was far off his line, and so he took a shot on goal from forty yards out. A shot that made every fan hold their breath, but it narrowly hit the post and bounced away, stopping County's last chance to get a second goal before the referee blew the whistle.

SECOND HALF

Detroit City returned with a vengeance early in the second half with a shot on goal that tested Colin Shutler's skill. They won the ball off a bad pass in the middle of the field and countered quickly. Striker Ben Morris blasted a shot towards the top right corner of the net that would be a goal of the week contender every time if Shutler hadn't made such a brilliant jumping save to push the attempt away and keep his shutout.

After that one dangerous attack on their goal, Orange County SC shifted their focus to a more compacted defense in order to prevent anything like that from happening again. Markkus Nakkim kept the center of the box clear throughout the half while trusting both Doghman and Lambe to keep the focus of play on the outside.

However, focusing on defense does not mean they ultimately gave up on getting a second goal. Partida won the ball with a chance to build a counterattack and found Milan on the outside line. He dribbled past the keeper and drew the center backs towards him, leaving Brian Iloski wide open in the middle of the box with Detroit’s keeper, Nate Steinwascher, off balance. He shot a near-perfect ball at the bottom left corner of the net. Tragically for OC, Stephen Carrol was waiting on the line to boot it out.

The best opportunity Detroit had to even things up came in the 62nd minute when a drive forward up the right line led to an open center of the box for Skage Simonsen to try and capitalize. However, Shutler was critical in his decision as he came off his line with a dive to deflect the shot away.

The last thirty minutes of the match became a real war between the midfielders. Orange County started to focus on keeping the majority of possession while locking down the defense. The evolution of their strategy between the first and second half allowed County to hold their lead and earn their first consecutive wins since 2021.

LOOKING FORWARD

Finally, the three-week away game stint is over, and Orange County SC comes home this Saturday, July 1st, to prepare for their big 10th-anniversary event. Not only will it be a massive celebration of the club's history, but it will also be the second beer fest of 2023. They welcome fellow west coast team, Monterey Bay FC, to Championship Stadium and will try to cement a long overdue win streak in hopes of making an honest attempt for a playoff spot.