Six-Pointer in Battle of 6th Place Teams
Orange County goes from a team where they have had consistent success against to a team where it has been a little more even. That is not to say that OC has quietly been one of the better teams in the USL with the pieces starting to fall into place. It is no secret that Orange County historically has been a team who plays their best soccer towards the end of the season and sure enough they are in the middle of the playoff picture.
Ousmane Sylla takes on Augi Williams in Pittsburgh
The quality run of form has seen them climb up to 6th in the Western Conference on 24 points which puts them into a tie with two other teams. As mentioned before the Western Conference has started to become a bit more spread out; for the most part. The first place FC Tulsa have seen their lead jump to 8 points above second place Sacramento. Meanwhile the bottom eight teams in the conference are all within six points of each other. OC is in the midst of this jumble but does have games in hand over everyone else.
Mentioned earlier is the fact that Orange County is tied on points with two other teams. Orange County is tied with Phoenix and will not see them for the rest of the season and the other is who Orange County will face on Saturday evening the Colorado Springs Switchbacks.
THE OPPONENT - COLORADO SPRINGS SWITCHBACKS FC
The reigning USL champions are beginning to find their form as well having won their last three league games. For a team that had spent time at the very bottom of the West, they now find themselves in a playoff spot after showing just a pulse which is good enough. Colorado Springs have been prone to conceding goals but do have offensive talent as well. The funniest part may be that through 18 games played they have a record of 6 wins, 6 losses and 6 draws. If that were not funny enough, their goal differential is a solid 0 having both scored and conceded 24 goals.
But the one thing that is going in their favor is that Orange County has not done well in Colorado Springs as of late. Since opening new-Weidner Field in early 2021, Orange County have only won once there and that includes the postseason. It is not shaping up for Orange County to have to go to Colorado Springs in the postseason but really this will be another good test for OC to prove if they can win meaningful away games. The club is still under manager James Chambers who did lead them to their first USL title in his first season as manager.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
One of the most in-form forwards for Colorado Springs is that of Norwegian Jonas Fjeldberg. Fjeldberg’s time with Colorado Springs dates back to the 2023 season and has not been the flashiest by any stretch of the imagination. In 2025 alone he has only scored two goals in 13 league appearances. Only six goals overall in his Switchbacks career but he has been a USL veteran since 2019 with stops at Rio Grande Valley and Indianapolis before landing in Colorado Springs. In his last game though he had both a goal and an assist against Oakland contributing to both of the Colorado Springs goals. It was his best performance of the season and one to build off on.
On the orange side of things, there is the chance that we will see the first appearances of Orange County’s newest youth signing. Tyson Espy is a 16-year old center back that originates from Orange County and recently signed a professional contract becoming the second prospect to make the switch from the LAFC academy to Orange County SC. Espy has international caps with both U15 and U16 youth national teams for the United States and can offer more depth on the backline. How much minutes Espy will receive in his first season remains to be determined but the OCSC Academy got another prospect added to their ranks.
PREDICTED STARTING XI
We are starting to determine the best available lineups in time for when the games truly matter and so expect to see more consistent lineups moving forward. That is not to say that those who start are going to be the best players moving forward but coach Stone will likely begin to have his set 11 along with his first 4 subs. In saying that we have one predicted lineup and it comes from yours truly.
Colin Shutler is the goalkeeper for Orange County, no question. The backline is veteran fueled sub the right back which for the moment remains to be Nicola Ciotta who has done a remarkable job for having only played a handful of professional games. The defensive midfield will remain to be Kelly and Partida. The offensive third perhaps has the most versatility which can be a good problem. I believe that Chris Hegardt is the best substitute option going forward and Cameron Dunbar and Bryce Jamison will occupy the flanks. Ousmane Sylla has the opportunity in the center of the midfield and Ethan Zubak is becoming Orange County’s most consistent forward.
THE MATCHUP
Earlier in the season, Orange County did handily defeat Colorado Springs with a 3-1 effort that saw Hegardt, Dunbar and War all get on the scoresheet. Orange County has been able to win a number of games quite comfortably which is something that cannot be said for years past. Colorado Springs are the only team in the USL to have both won and lost a game in the postseason to Orange County. It has been a very even matchup with OC having a one game lead at 10-2-9 all time across all competitions dating back to 2015. One funny stat about Orange County is the fact that despite being a mid-table team for the entire year, they have the third best goal differential in the Western Conference at a whopping +3. The rest of the West has been mostly a mess and Orange County will need to keep fighting for every point possible. If Orange County can avoid losing games then they will be on pace to host a playoff game.
WHAT TO KNOW
Game - @ Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC (USL Championship)
When - August 16th, 6:00 PM PST
Where- Weidner Field (Colorado Springs, CO)
OCSC Form - DWWWL
COS Form - WWWWL
All-Time Series - 10-2-9 (21 Games)
TV - ESPN+
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