Southwest Matchup Makes Its Return to Southern California
Orange County SC are playing their best soccer since the 2021 title-winning season. That is the best way to describe what has been an outstanding Summer spent mostly away from Irvine, CA. The Boys in Orange will finally be able to play a home game which will be their first in nearly a month.
With Orange County having a good run of form it must be noted that the majority of those good results have come against teams from the Eastern Conference. While this is a positive statistic, ultimately it boils down to how well Orange County fare against their opponents from the West as ultimately that is who they are competing with for valuable playoff spots. Like many around the league have known, as long as you qualify for the playoffs then anyone can have a realistic chance.
This makes Saturday’s matchup realistically one of the most important games this season with the implications going a long way into just how much success Orange County can expect to achieve in a season that looked all but lost the time these two teams played.
THE OPPONENT - NEW MEXICO UNITED
As of matchday, Orange County is currently the number 8 seed in the West and are above the playoff line by one point. New Mexico themselves are hanging around the playoff line with the same amount of points as OC. However they have earned that total with two less games played. This is a theme that was stated last week in that a lot of the teams standing in between Orange County and the playoffs have more games to play. The last time Orange County faced New Mexico came on April 29 in a 1-3 loss in Albuquerque. That would be the final nail in the coffin of the Richard Chaplow era. Not only do both teams have the same number of points but both teams have departed from their coaches from the first leg of the season.
Former head coach Zach Prince announced his departure from New Mexico to join the coaching staff of New York Red Bulls in the MLS. This move came in early June about a month after Orange County sacked Chaplow. In Prince’s absence comes new manager Eric Quill who has spent time with Columbus Crew SC and North Texas SC when they won the USL League One title.
The Eric Quill era in New Mexico has not had the explosiveness that may have been anticipated. However they are on a nice run of form having won four of their last five league games. That includes trouncing league leaders Sacramento at home last week by a score of 3-0. Both teams have had very similar seasons but will come to a collision with much more at stake this time.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
As seems to be the trend with important players, once again the player to watch this week for the Black and Yellow will be a forward in that of Amando Moreno. Moreno’s consistent play has been a huge factor to the recent success New Mexico has seen. In the last 6 games Moreno has netted four goals while helping out with another. This has greatly padded his season totals as before this stretch he had only had one goal and one assist. Moreno has spent time in both the MLS and Liga MX. Likewise in the net for the United is that of Alexandros Tambakis who has held clean sheets in the last two league games which has doubled his number for the season.
On the orange side of things, Marc McNulty has finally found his form and has rewarded his club with goals in consecutive games. McNulty opened the scoring for Orange County in Loudoun and was able to net another in Memphis last week. Sparky has also had a pair of helpers this season. With much of the defensive attention going to Milan Iloski, McNulty has begun to look dangerous and could be another piece in a very deep offense for Orange County.
THE MATCHUP
This has been one series that Orange County has been on the losing end of mostly. In what has been 5 matchups dating back to the 2019 season, Orange County have only won once with that win coming at New Mexico of that same inaugural season. Orange County has yet to even defeat the Black and Yellow at home. The last time these two sides met, New Mexico put on a dominating display that saw them through 3-1. The only tally for OC that night would come off of an own goal by Josh Suggs. Karlsen has proven that his side can beat anyone in the league and he will have another chance to do it again this Saturday the 29th.
WHAT TO KNOW
Game - vs New Mexico United (USL Championship)
When - July 29, 7:00 PM PST
Where - Championship Soccer Stadium (Irvine, CA)
OCSC Form - WWLWW
NMU Form - WWDWW
All-Time Matchup - 1-2-2
TV - ESPN+, Bally Sports SoCal