The Battle for Southern California With Everything To Play For
A rivalry, or derby in soccer, is best described as an intense competition between athletic teams or athletes. It is very safe to say that there is no love lost whenever Orange County plays San Diego.
This will be the twelfth meeting all time between the two clubs dating back to the 2020 season and is a rivalry that has really seen everything: wins on the road, last-minute goals, sending offs, fisticuffs, the works. Both teams for the most part have remained competitive in many of their matchups and this meeting does not change. As it currently stands, San Diego are fourth in the Western Conference with 33 points while Orange County sit two points behind them in 6th.
Both teams have had good months of June and both are going into Saturday’s game on three game win streaks. Likewise both teams are currently in the playoff mix.
THE OPPONENT - SAN DIEGO LOYAL SC
Like seasons past, San Diego are in no way an easy team to play against. This season is no different from the others as the Loyal are 9-6-5 through 20 games played. Likewise it is the offense that has been the difference maker for them in their success this season. That group has accounted for 36 goals which is good enough for third in the West. During their three game win streak they have scored 9 goals while not conceding a single one. That does include playing last place Hartford and a struggling Switchbacks team twice.
The first time that these two teams played was the debut match for head coach Morten Karlsen for OC but Nate Miller has quietly done a good job as head coach for Loyal following the self-promotion of Landon Donovan keeping the winning ways consistent. Likewise the Loyal have a number of new pieces this season that have done good things for them.
Since the last meeting, one notable stat is the Loyal’s record against fellow playoff teams. Their record against playoff teams not named Colorado Springs is only 0-2-4 and that goes along with their only wins coming twice against the Switchbacks and a Hartford Athletic team last in the East. This will be a good test for both teams.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
The elephant in the room for players on SD to watch is that of Ronaldo Damus. While we did already cover him prior to the first matchup between these teams back in May, the update on him is that he has made 18 appearances while scoring 5 goals. The main players to look to is that of forward Tumi Moshobane who for a forward does most of his damage distributing the ball. Moshobane leads the Loyal in assists with 5 goals and has already knocked one past Orange County this year.
The other player is former national teamer Joe Corona. A San Diegan himself, Corona had 23 caps with the USMNT spanning across 6 years. After a lengthy career spanning across both Liga MX and MLS, Corona signed for the Loyal 2023 season and so far has recorded three goals to go along with an assist. One of those goals, like Moshobane, did come against Orange County.
On the orange side of things, we will be looking at the young forward Bryce Jamison who has had a fantastic summer for Orange County. At just 17 years of age, Jamison has notched a goal and an assist in his last two games which were both consequential to Orange County shooting up the table and finding themselves as the 6th seed with only 12 games left in the regular season.
THE MATCHUP
Orange County have failed to defeat San Diego in their last three matchups including already losing to them this year in the first leg. Saturday’s matchup at Torero stadium will be the 6th time OC have played there and they have already won twice there. This derby day matchup has the added bonus of playoff implications. Two points is all that separates the two teams who are both in the middle of the playoff picture. Saturday August 5 could go a long way for both teams in what should be an emotional night in the South Coast Derby. Likewise Orange County has gone up a man in each of their last 3 games.
WHAT TO KNOW
Game - @ San Diego Loyal SC (USL Championship)
When - August 5, 7:00 PM PST
Where - Torero Stadium (San Diego, CA)
OCSC Form - WWWLW
SDL Form - WWWDL
All-Time Matchup - 3-5-3
TV - ESPN+