It’s official: the boys are back in town.
OCSC defied all expectations in July, earning 12 points across 5 games, good for a 2.4 PPG pace. To illustrate just how good the team has been, consider this: in the month of April, OCSC was playing at a 0.75 PPG pace, which shakes out to 26 points over a full season. Someone must’ve forgotten to tell the team that they’re supposed to be in the dog days of summer.
Game 1 Recap: OCSC 3-1 win v. Monterey Bay FC
Game 2 Recap: OCSC 0-2 loss @ Rio Grande Valley FC
Game 3 Recap: OCSC 3-1 win @ Loudon United FC
Game 4 Recap: OCSC 4-3 win @ 901 Memphis FC
Game 5 Recap: OCSC 1-0 win v. New Mexico United
After May, the team had dug themselves into a hole that was borderline too deep to crawl out of. As the calendar flipped to June, OCSC had amassed 7 losses. 10 losses would be a caution, and 15 losses would be almost a death knell in the team’s playoff hopes. So what did they do? Over the next 9 games, they went 7-0-2 and head into the month of August still having not hit the 10-loss mark. To say the team has turned things around would be an understatement. OCSC has completely changed their identity and are unrecognizable from the team that started the season.
This is good news because August looks to be the toughest month of the season to date for the boys in orange and black. After the first two months of the season, fans were circling August as the month when the team would be officially out of playoff contention. Now? At the risk of developing an irrational amount of hubris, the remainder of the season will be used to determine where in the playoffs the team will land, not if they will make them at all.
Point Targets Update
The excellence in June and July have gone a long way toward fixing the season’s overall PPG. After 22 games, OCSC has 31 points, good for a 1.41 PPG pace. A bit off from the pre-season target pace of 1.7 PPG, but that shouldn’t be an issue given where the rest of the West currently sits.
Around the League
For the first time this season, OCSC is officially in the playoff picture. Barring a late-season collapse, the remaining games will be used to determine seeding and not whether or not the team will make the playoffs at all.
After June, the target point total to host a playoff game was projected at 54 points, which is still approximately where the team should aim for. The 3-7 seeds in the West are incredibly competitive, and 1-2 points either way could be the difference between hosting and traveling in the first round of the playoffs. One thing to note is that OCSC currently has no games in hand against any of their western competition. Fans should pay special attention to San Diego since they have a potential 6 additional points up for grabs.
Thankfully, OCSC is in a position where they don’t need to scoreboard watch, at least not very closely. If the team can continue to perform as they have for the past two months, it won’t matter what the other teams do; OCSC will vault up the table and play host in the first round (and potentially beyond) of the playoffs.
Matches at a glance
The team has done a tremendous job making up lost ground. However,there is still work to do in order to hit 54 points. To get there, OCSC needs to play at a 1.92 PPG clip the rest of the way. Fortunately, the team has proven that they can play above this pace. Can they sustain it for a third month? It will certainly be a challenge as the team heads into their hardest month to date.
Game one takes OCSC down the 5 for a visit to Torero Stadium and San Diego Loyal. The Southern California rivals are doing well as of late, taking 10 of a possible 12 points in July and solidly in the playoffs. In 2023, Loyal has a modest +7 GD, with their offensive engine running through Evan Conway and OCSC legend Ronaldo Damus.
OCSC returns to Championship Stadium for game two as they play host to the class of the East, the Pittsburgh Riverhounds, in a midweek matchup. Albert Dikwa leads all scorers in the East with 11 goals, and goalkeeper Jahmali Waite is tied for second in the conference with 7 clean sheets.
Orange County finishes off a two-game week as they welcome Charleston Battery to Irvine. Charleston is hot on the heels of Pittsburgh for the top spot in the East, coming into August just 2 points behind the conference leaders. Interestingly, they have an even GD as they’ve both allowed and scored 32 goals as July comes to a close. Just like Pittsburgh, Charleston has players at the top of the stats charts. Augustine Williams is second in the East with 9 goals, and Trey Muse also has 7 clean sheets.
The lads wrap up the month on the road against USL juggernaut Sacramento Republic. Far and away the best team in the league, Sacramento enters August with an eye-popping +21 GD, thanks in large part to the stingiest defense in the league with just 16 goals allowed across 22 matches. Russell Cicerone is second in the league with 13 goals, and Daniel Vitiello is third in the league with 8 clean sheets.
A successful August would be 7-8 points. Fans should be confident in the team’s ability to compete with any team in the league, including Sacramento Republic. However, it’s likely that the team, like all teams, will stumble at some point down the stretch. If OCSC can get two wins and a draw in the first three matches in August, then it doesn’t really matter what happens in the Sacramento game. An undefeated August would be lovely, but if the team can get at least two wins, they will be in a decent position come September.
This team deserves your attention
It was easy to count the team out after the first two months of the season. There was often no gameplan, no in-game tactical adjustments, and no positional/formational consistency. However, ever since Morten Karlsen took over as head coach, the identify, the very foundation of the team, has transformed for the better. Players have clearly defined roles that they can build upon, the attack is more fluid and creative than ever before, and there is never a sense that the team is out of any game. If you fell off in April and May, now is the time to hop back on the bandwagon. OCSC has stormed up the table over the last two months, and there’s nothing to suggest that the good times won’t keep rolling. Just remember:
Oh County, You got what I need
Orange County is the one for me
Up the table we will rise
Let our voices be lifted high.
