Orange County Experiences the Rare Bad Week After a Victory
Orange County, in my honest opinion, played an almost perfect game in Indianapolis considering the team that they brought with them. They got a much needed goal from Ethan Zubak and were able to rely on a makeshift defensive line in front of Colin Shutler to steal a victory to end Indy’s 10 game win streak.
Then the week after happened and OC lost both its starting midfielder and their head coach.
Brian Iloski unfortunately suffered a torn ACL on Saturday in Indianapolis and will be out for the remainder of the season. A devastating blow to an already depleted OCSC. This was announced just one day after it was announced that the victory on Sunday would be the last for Morten Karlsen.
On Tuesday the 25, Orange County SC officially announced that head coach Morten Karlsen and the club had mutually agreed to part ways with Karlsen returning to his native Denmark to coach Lyngby Boldklub. The Karlsen era for OC saw a lot of strong performances including the club’s longest winning streak at eight wins along with a run to the playoffs. Orange County will now be under their fourth head coach in the last four years.
Likewise they have no time to sulk about it as they return home and face a common Western Conference foe.
THE OPPONENT - OAKLAND ROOTS SC
In the first matchup between the two California rivals Oakland broke the hearts of OC with a goal in the 94’ minute in a 2-1 victory in what was a very frustrating game for Orange County. Since then the two clubs have gone in opposite directions with Oakland now finding themselves 3rd in a very crowded Western Conference. After that win over OC, Oakland earned some very impressive victories over teams like Sacramento and Tampa Bay just to name a few. The offense has picked up the momentum scoring at least a goal in five of their last six games. Just when it seemed that Oakland really had something going they saw defeat to Monterey Bay in their last game. If there's one area that Oakland should improve in is their play away from the Bay. While playing at Pioneer Stadium Oakland are a respectable 4-3-1, however when they are traveling the number drops down to 3-5-1.
This is an Oakland team that is playing with a bit more confidence than the last time these two clubs faced off. This time around though both teams will be playing under an interim head coach.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
The last time that we looked at Oakland it was their main threat offensively Johnny Rodriguez and how he was the only one scoring goals. Well since then they have gotten much more spread out with who is scoring goals with five different players having at least two goals scored. The other big attacking threat for Oakland is that of right-back Memo Diaz. Diaz is in his fourth year with the Roots and is having a nice campaign. Diaz is similar to Ryan Doghman in being a back that can find his way up the pitch and provide service to those ahead of him. It shows as he is the team leader with 29 chances created and also leads the team with 3 assists. He also carries some finishing talent as he did score a goal for Oakland in their Open Cup run.
On the orange side of things we should get to know the new man in charge of OCSC, interim-head coach Paul Hardyman. The Englishman Hardyman is a former defender that played for a number of clubs across the upper leagues of English football with the notable ones being Sunderland, Plymouth, Bristol Rovers and Wycombe Wanderers all across a 16-year playing career. After his playing career he would go on to be in the coaching system as an assistant for the likes of Portsmouth, Southampton and Watford. After a brief break from coaching, Hardyman joined the OC staff under then head coach Braeden Cloutier before the 2021 season. After serving under three different coaches as well as being heavily involved with the OC Academy, Hardyman is now the interim-head coach for OCSC. Saturday will not be his first time serving as the head coach however as he filled in for a suspended Karlsen in Orange County’s last game at home, a 3-2 victory over Detroit City FC. One of the longer tenured individuals at the club, Hardyman should be a popular pick to fill the interim role.
THE MATCHUP
Orange County has gotten the better of Oakland more often than not historically. In regular season matchups OC has the advantage with 5 wins to go along with 1 draw and 3 defeats. The lone playoff meeting occurred in 2021 in the Western Conference Semifinals with Orange County advancing past Oakland via penalties. Realistically the positive record against Oakland is thanks in part to the 2021 season where along with the playoff matchup, OC and Oakland played each other four different times with OC winning every single matchup. Since then however Oakland has been the better side. One key statistic is that Oakland has yet to take all three points when visiting Orange County.
WHAT TO KNOW
Game - vs Oakland Roots SC (USL Championship)
When - June 29, 7:00 PM PST
Where - Championship Soccer Stadium (Irvine, CA)
OCSC Form - WLLWL
OAK Form - LWWWL
All-Time Matchup - 6-1-3 (10 Matchups)
TV - Bally Sports SoCal, ESPN+