Must Win Game For Cup Competition
Mouhamadou War Celebrates scoring against Colorado Springs Switchbacks in stoppage time May 24
It is now Orange County’s second USL Cup game and the first one on the road. OCSC will be traveling up the California coast to Seaside, CA and face Monterey Bay FC who got off to a nice start in their campaign with a win over Spokane Velocity FC of League One on Wednesday.
Orange County SC will have a lot of work to do and will have to rely on outside factors if they have any chance of advancing out of Group 1. The loss to Las Vegas did not help in the slightest and Orange County found themselves only 6th with three games left to play.
This is the second time that Orange County will play Monterey Bay this season with the first match going in favor of the Northern California team. Orange County will be hopefully going into this game with a bit of momentum after their emphatic 3-1 win over Colorado Springs last week.
THE OPPONENT - MONTEREY BAY FC
Monterey Bay in the regular season should factor to be a playoff appearance at best. After a hot start that included the 3-0 win over Orange County SC in late March, the Kelp and Crisp have cooled off a bit. They are winless in their last six league games. But they did snap that winless skid with their USL Cup win over Spokane on Wednesday.
Yes Monterey Bay did defeat Spokane with a 1-0 victory but the scoreline does not tell the whole story. Spokane ended that game with 25 attempted shots but perhaps only putting one on target was not the best. Monterey Bay have not been able to get the wins against USL Championship teams as of late and will be hosting Orange County SC, who are still a USL Championship team. It is still too early to tell who exactly will be advancing out of the group but Monterey Bay will likely need to win if they are to keep pace with Las Vegas.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
The lone goal scorer from Monterey Bay’s first USL Cup game is that of Pierce Gallaway. Gallaway is a younger midfielder with the goal against Spokane being his first professional goal for the 24 year old. Gallaway is a Monterey Bay resident having been from Carmel, CA. He is still a main part of the senior team for Monterey Bay but with this being the 2nd game in as little as four days for MBFC then it would be interesting to see just who is trotted out on the pitch.
On the orange side of things, Kevin Partida is now in the midst of his fourth season with Orange County SC and has already doubled his number of appearances with one club over the second most. His 86 career appearances puts him 14 back of 100 for the club and will most likely be reached this season. Partida in 2025 notched his first assist of the season last week against Colorado Springs in what was his 10th appearance of the season. Partida is now a leader for the club and they will need him for games like these.
PREDICTED STARTING XI
DK Jenks Starting 11 May 31
Orange County has the rest advantage in this Cup game and will be looking for their first positive result away from home all year. Two lineup predictions for the second USL Cup game with some unique features of both.
D.K. is playing the long game with his lineup looking to give rest to key players like Scott, Partida and Dunbar. A good dosage of youth players like Miles, Barjolo and War find their way in their respective positions. Chris Hegardt will remain at midfield where he excelled last week and Ousmane Sylla will make his return to the lineup.
Nathan Wander Starting 11 May 31
Both Bryce Jamison and Pedro Guimaraes were called up to their respective US Youth national teams during the international window so they will be without them for a couple of weeks. This is likely why we will be seeing youth teamer Nicola Ciotta on the bench for this match with Koa Santos at right back. Looking at how Danny Stone treats these second competition games, I believe that both Kevin Partida and Kyle Scott will make the starts. Mohamadou War also gets the nod.
THE MATCHUP
The first non-regular season matchup between Orange County SC and Monterey Bay FC will also be the tie breaker as both these teams have won 3 times against the other. They cannot tie this game, with the game immediately going to a shootout if they are tied after 90 minutes. Only four games in the group stage for all teams with the top team in each group moving on to the knockout rounds. Along with the six group winners are also the next two teams with the highest number of points. Orange County’s only hope is to win out and hope that Las Vegas drops some games.
WHAT TO KNOW
Game - @ Monterey Bay FC (USL Jägermeister Cup Group Stage)
When - May 31st, 7:00 PM PST
Where - Cardinale Stadium (Seaside, CA)
OCSC Form - WLLWL
MBFC Form - WLLDD
All-Time Series - 3-1-3 (7 Matchups)
TV - ESPN+