El Paso Locomotive FC visited Championship Stadium this weekend and ended Orange County SC's historic win streak with a frustrating draw.
FIRST HALF:
Back in their gold kits in support of Childhood Cancer Awareness month, Orange County SC took to the field with the hope of getting an early lead. In the first couple of minutes, Brian Iloski earned a corner kick and sent the ball toward the box, but El Paso cleared it away quickly.
Kevin Partida showed some impressive aggression early on. He held onto his mark after getting beat once on the line and never let up. His push eventually led to a foul just outside the 18-yard line, but Thomas Amang cleared the free kick away and gave possession back to OCSC.
El Paso had the second offensive chance by passing it up the center after another free kick. They took a shot, but Orange County's central defense cleared it out, keeping young keeper Juan Santana from being challenged. One element that has kept the team in such strong form has been the center defenders, Dillon Powers and Markus Nakkim, who are a constant wall in preventing any danger from reaching their keeper.
Milan Iloski and Amang tried to answer back with their own forward push just a minute later. Amang won a brutal duel and sent a pass center to Milan, who quickly passed it back, showing fantastic synergy between the two strikers. Unfortunately, the pass had too much power on it, and Amang couldn't get a good angle for his shot on target.
Although the midfield looked incredibly strong for Orange County throughout the match, with some brilliant passing between Kyle Scott, Seth Casiple, and Partida, the offensive plan of attack seemed reminiscent of the team's old strategy of hoofing passes over the heads of their opponent’s backline. El Paso’s defense brilliantly prevented Amang or Milan from getting a proper breakthrough from those long passes.
However, there were quite a few almost magical moments for Orange County once they got into their opponent's box. A quick team play caught El Paso off guard when Partida headed the ball over to Milan, who made a cheeky back pass to Ryan Doghman coming up the side. Doghman had a wide-open shot but, unfortunately, sent it too high to challenge the opposing keeper.
The best opportunity for Orange County to gain the lead happened in the 28th minute after Owen Lambe won the ball back and quickly sent the ball up the middle through a perfect passing lane to Milan. He made a slight touch to get the ball away from the defender but was hit by a late tackle in the box, bringing him down. After watching the replay a dozen times, it's hard to see how a penalty wasn't called, but the referee waved it off, claiming it was a clean challenge.
Benny Diaz sent a fantastic pass, allowing El Paso to push a counterattack off a goal kick. They took the ball down the side and shot toward goal, but it went wide. The rest of the half continued as a passing game in the middle without further dangerous chances on either side, keeping it a nil-nil draw when the halftime whistle blew.
SECOND HALF:
The second half started very similar to the first, with a lot of passing throughout the midfield, with both teams looking for any break in the defensive wall with no luck. However, in the 52nd minute, Partida showed again how impactful of a player he can be when El Paso tried to make a counter move but was stopped in their tracks by the midfielder. He won it back, made a perfect move to the right to beat his man, and tried to take a shot from outside the box that barely went wide.
The squad was more aggressive up the field in the second half and a little more reckless. There were a few chances where patience would have done them well in their opponent's final third and instead of focusing on team plays with quick passes around the defense, they opted to take some far-out shots that unfortunately did not bear fruit.
In a surprise move by Morten Karlsen, Milan came off in the 62nd minute, being replaced by Marc "Sparky" McNulty. Although fans always get sad to see Milan come off the pitch, it shows this squad's substantial depth that there isn't just one key player on the pitch.
Orange County did a fantastic job controlling the game in the second half. Both offensively and defensively, they proved why they are the hottest team in the league right now. Yet, despite keeping El Paso from having any important possession, they could not find gaps in the defense to open up the scoreline.
Another questionable non-call in the first minute of added time started when Lambe sent the ball to Sparky in the middle of the box. He controlled the pass with excellent footwork, juggled it around the defender, and struck a hard volley toward the net, but the El Paso defender's arm extended out and blocked the shot from reaching the keeper. On any other day, it would have been a handball in the box, but the referee again waved it away, causing players and fans to erupt in anger. Sparky earned a yellow card, and the rest of the match went on without a goal, ending things in a frustrating draw.
OVERVIEW:
And so, El Paso Locomotive ended Orange County SC’s eight-game win streak, but despite the match, or referee calls, not going the way they would have liked, the team is still unbeaten in their last nine and has a lot to be proud of.
It wasn’t the best performance offensively from the boys. Still, the midfield and defensive line was solid in holding onto possession and keeping their opponents from gaining any attacks of their own. Kevin Partida was a standout this weekend. He was all over the pitch and never let up his aggression in pushing the ball forward.
Next week, OCSC will welcome Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC to the Championship stadium for a Friday night game and will hope to make progress on catching up to the number 1 and 2 spots in the western conference as the playoffs inch closer.
