FIRST HALF

One of last season’s most important players was finally back in the starting XI this week. Kyle Scott returned from injury, giving a hopeful boost to Orange County's midfield control, making them so formidable in 2023.

The battle between these two clubs was back and forth at the start, as neither side could find any egregious weak points in the other's defense; for Orange County SC, that was primarily thanks to Andrew Fox, who cleared away most of the danger that came close to their box. However, after Fox gave a push to Memphis forward Neco Brett near the corner in the 11th minute, they received a free kick in a dangerous location. The cross was sent in, but Colin Shutler showed confidence by coming off his line to punch the ball away.

After receiving the ball on the right, Owen Lambe started Orange County's best moment of the half. He quickly got the ball forward to Brian Iloski, who controlled it and went backward to Kevin Partida, only to find Lambe again surging up the middle of the pitch. Lambe sent a brilliant pass to Cameron Dunbar just outside the 18, and with plenty of time, he set himself up for a shot toward goal. Unfortunately, the attempt went off its target. It was a beautiful team performance to get through Memphis 901's defensive prowess—however, the finishing touch needed to be better to gain the lead.

Although neither side gained a real advantage in the first half, Orange County's build-up play looked to have huge improvements from the first few games of the season. The missing piece was Scott, who was utilized as a funnel for the ball into Memphis' half in almost every play where OCSC had forward momentum. There may not have been any clinical attempts on goal, but Scott's performance was a massive highlight in Orange County's ability to control possession.

SECOND HALF

Memphis started the half by trying to capitalize on a mistake from Partida just outside the box. Partida lost the ball, putting two forwards against Shutler, but Shutler immediately came forward with a dive to push the ball away from Brett and stop an almost guaranteed goal. Fox tried to clear the ball away from danger, but Zach Duncan took back control and fired a shot on an open net that went high.

The boys in orange and black tried to counter quickly when Chattha switched it over to Lambe on the right side. Lambe quickly sent a forward cross to Dunbar, who also had a fantastic chance, but his shot went wide once again.

In the next few minutes, Memphis would continue their attack, aiming to test Shutler several times. Bruno Lapa took a shot in a prime position, but it went right down the middle into Shutler's hands. Only moments later, Dylan Borczak had a wonderful run up the field, beating the defense and sending a rocket to the low corner that Shutler had to make a diving save to keep things level.

After the Memphis offense's initial scares early in the second half, Orange County took back control of the game due to some excellent passing from Scott and Sofiane Djeffal in the midfield. Each gave their team some strong chances in the final third of the pitch.

Everything finally came together in the 61st minute. Scott sent up a long pass through the center, and Thomas Amang did incredibly well to bring the ball down to his feet. He quickly found Dunbar running on the left side, who took a shot with his left foot. The shot was deflected by Memphis goalkeeper Tyler Deric, but Iloski ran to the far post and pushed the ball into the net on the follow-through, giving Orange County a 1-0 lead.

OCSC wasn't done yet; just two minutes later, Scott gained back possession for his team and passed it forward to Dunbar, creating another chance for the offense. Dunbar sent a through ball to Amang, who beat the defense and rolled a shot under the keeper into the net for the second goal of the night. Orange County led 2-0 with back-to-back goals.

After the goal, Morten Karlsen made three substitutions to give his team a boost in energy to finish the match. Ethan Zubak, Byrce Jamison, and Seth Casiple replaced Amang, Dunbar, and Scott.

Zubak nearly had an excellent opportunity to score his first goal of the season when Lambe and Djeffal had a quick give-and-take pass play, giving Lamber room to cross into the box. The cross was a little too soft, though, and Zubak did his best to run to it, but the keeper caught it before he had a chance.

Memphis got another chance with a free kick just a couple of yards outside the 18, and the cross into the box was fantastic. However, Shutler did an excellent job jumping over everyone to catch the ball.

The rest of the match continued, Memphis taking back most of the possession. However, with a 2-0 lead, Orange County was happy sitting back and forcing their opponents to create chances. They were able to get into OCSC's final third quite a lot in the last 15 minutes. However, the defense shut them down every time, allowing the county boys to earn their third win of the season and stay undefeated.

OVERVIEW

As mentioned many times when exploring the match details, Kyle Scott was crucial in pushing his team toward the win against Memphis 901 FC. He started each play that turned into a goal and was prolific in his passing throughout the match. Yet, there were quite a few standouts in this possession-based battle between the two teams. Colin Shutler and Andrew Fox did fantastic in keeping the shutout, while Cameron Dunbar showed throughout the match how hungry he was for a goal.

Things may not have been perfect, and some sloppy mistakes almost allowed Memphis to gain some ground against Orange County, but this match showed that the boys in orange and black are only improving week to week.

Next week, they will be on the road once again, traveling to Texas to face San Antonio FC on Saturday, April 13th, at 5:30 PM PST.