Western Conference Giants Meet For First Time in Hill Country
Including this weekend’s game, there are only five games left. Orange County is in no danger of missing the playoffs. They do however need to keep picking up points if they are to guarantee a playoff game is played in Irvine.
San Antonio is in a bit of a more extreme run of form to what OC is experiencing at the moment. For the entirety of the season, San Antonio and Sacramento have been the two top teams in the West. However, San Antonio are winless in their last 6 USL games. It has been a bit of a trend this month of September for a lot of championship contenders to drop a number of points. Orange County can now be included in this category with their winning streak and undefeated streak both snapped in their last two games.
It is a scheduling quirk that OC and San Antonio will play for the first time this season this late into the season. This first matchup will be followed up with the home leg in Irvine only two weeks later. It will be a top 3 matchup this Saturday, something that OC have been very strong in.
THE OPPONENT - SAN ANTONIO FC
As we have done with all of the Western Conference teams, we will look at who the club is and what changes they have made. It just so happens that probably the most intriguing team to review is saved for the last. San Antonio FC are the defending USL Champions. It was their first title in club history for a side in their eighth year of existence. The roster from last season has remained largely unchanged with the defensive core still intact. As mentioned before, San Antonio have spent nearly all of the year at or near the top of the USL pedestal. However, it has been a rough month of September.
San Antonio’s last win in the USL came on August 16 in a 2-1 victory over Rio Grande Valley. Since then they have gone 6 straight games without a victory including a 1-2 defeat at the hands of FC Tulsa. That is the only negative result as the other 5 games have resulted in draws. Three of those being 0-0 sorts. However with all that in mind, San Antonio is still 2nd in the West. That trend that has seen each of the top teams in the West have subpar forms of play has not excluded San Antonio.
San Antonio has the best offense in the USL scoring a total of 54 goals. In their last three games they have accounted for five goals including putting 3 past Tampa Bay their last time out. Head coach Alen Marcina is in his fourth season in charge.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
San Antonio has a number of notable names at their disposal. Like OC with Milan, San Antonio’s main man at front is that of Tani Oluwaseyi. Oluwaseyi is on loan from Minnesota United FC of the MLS and with his time in the USL has scored 14 goals this season. That places him tied for fourth in the USL golden boot race. For reference, Iloski is in seventh with 12 goals. Likewise Jordan Farr in net for San Antonio is also one of the leading members in his category for clean sheets with 8 which ties him with Colin Shutler. One player that will not be available for San Antonio will be the center back Fabien Garcia who will be serving a one-game suspension due to yellow card accumulation.
On the orange side of things, we are going to check in on the second offensive option for OC in Thomas Amang. Amang has done what has been asked of supporting forwards and that is score timely goals. While much of the defensive attention has gone to Milan, Amang has quietly accounted for 7 goals on the year. This includes the winning goal the last time OC played a top 3 opponent in the West when he scored against Sacramento Republic FC. The OC offense has been on a slide a bit and will look to get goals from anywhere on the field.
THE MATCHUP
It has been a very even matchup between the two sides who will go against each other for the twelfth time Saturday night. Orange County will look to defeat San Antonio in the regular season for the first time since the 2018 season. Since then these teams have always seemed to find draws when playing one another. Even when they meet in the postseason it takes kicks from the spot to determine a winner. Likewise Orange County are in a scenario that could see them clinch a postseason berth tonight. On top of an OC win, if Monterey Bay loses to Oakland AND Rio Grande Valley loses/draws to Indy then Orange County will clinch a spot in the 2023 postseason.
WHAT TO KNOW
Game - @ San Antonio FC (USL Championship)
When - September 23, 5:30 PM PST
Where - Toyota Field (San Antonio, TX)
OCSC Form - LDWWW
SAN Form - DDLDD
All-Time Matchup - 4-3-4
TV - ESPN+
