Southern California Skirmish in the High Desert
Orange County SC got themselves back on the right track with a pedestrian 2-1 win over Sacramento. The game was notable as it saw OC get out to a 2-0 lead early into the second half and did not overtly rely on Colin Shutler to be the hero.
But Orange County will take a pause on the USL Championship and now do a quick turnaround to begin their Open Cup run. The 2025 rendition of the tournament returns to a bit of normalcy as 96 teams have or will participate in the tournament with teams similar to OCSC entering into the third round.
This will be Orange County’s thirteenth time entering into the competition. A competition that they have historically not been very good at. Last season was truly an indication of this when Orange County lost to fellow USL side Loudoun United in the fourth round fielding a pretty competitive lineup. This will be Danny Stone’s first Open Cup game with Orange County SC as they take on a new challenger in the Southern California market.
THE OPPONENT - AV ALTA FC
Making their 2025 debut in USL League One comes AV Alta FC. The Lancaster based side will only be playing in its 7th competitive game ever and and for a fourth consecutive time at home where they have been a perfect 4-0-0 at. Two of those four wins have come in the Open Cup and have come at the expense of fellow Southern California teams Ventura County Fusion and LAFC 2. To lead the club in their first season they have tasked head coach Brian Kleiban to lead the charge. Getting to this point in the Open Cup, mentioned earlier, AV Alta defeated a team from Ventura County and a team from Los Angeles County. Now if they are to progress on to the fourth round they must defeat the team from Orange County.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
The main attacking threat in Open Cup play for AV Alta leading them in goals has been Haitian forward Jerry Desdunes. Desdunes’s two goals both came in their first round match against Ventura County Fusion. This is going to be one of the first priorities for Orange County to stop. Likewise this club does employ former MLSer Miguel Ibarra in the midfield. AV Alta has a number of high profile players.
On the orange side of things, Benjamin Barjolo should look to feature on Tuesday night. The 18-year old right winger is still searching for his first career professional goal in what should be his 12th appearance for Orange County. Barjolo aims to be one of the many young OC products who are bound to transfer out from the pipeline. These Open Cup games have historically been a great opportunity for younger players to see more minutes and Barjolo is a perfect candidate to look out for.
PREDICTED STARTING XI
This is really the first opportunity to see just how much attention Danny Stone gives the Open Cup. Last season with Phoenix Rising FC his side did advance into the Round of 16 before being knocked out by Seattle Sounders FC. The one Phoenix match that Stone was in charge for and won saw a high number of first team players like Cabral, Traore and Armenakas start and many more come off the bench. In saying this I believe that we will see something similar for Orange County.
Mohamadou War will get the start at the striker position where him, Barjolo and Jamison will look to wreak havoc on the backline. As such the backline will mostly be regular first team players plus the inclusion of one Vuk Latinovich, a center-back on a 25-day contract. Nico Benalcazar will slot in at defensive mid with Gavin Karam one of two players making their first OC appearance. The second one is in net with Tetsuya Kadono giving Shutler a break. Do not be surprised however if we still do see players like Kyle Scott or Ryan Doghman still come on later in the match.
THE MATCHUP
Orange County SC gets to face off against a USL League One team for the first time in club history. As such this will be the first Open Cup away game for Orange County since 2023 when they bowed out to Portland Timbers. These two teams have met before during the preseason in what was a highly spirited affair that saw a brief skirmish take place and an Alta FC member sent off. Do not think that because these two teams do not regularly meet that this game is not important for either side. Orange County SC should be expecting a very raucous environment when they make the 114 mile trek past Los Angeles into the High Desert. Both teams will need to shuffle their lineups as they are both coming off home league wins from Saturday.
WHAT TO KNOW
Game - @ AV Alta FC (US Open Cup - Round 3)
When - April 15th, 7:00 PM PST
Where - Lancaster Municipal Stadium (Lancaster, CA)
OCSC Form - WLLDW
ALTA Form - WWWLW
All-Time Series - 0-0-0 (1st Matchup)
TV - Paramount+, Golazo Network