Orange County Has Not Heard a Bell Yet
Of the Orange County SC teams of the past who made the postseason they have generally made the postseason with little drama. This season will likely not be the case as with eight games remaining in the season OC are on the outside looking in. With each passing week the margin of error is becoming slimmer and slimmer and at the same time the injuries are starting to really pile up.
Nicola Ciotta is the latest OC defender to go down with an injury and unfortunately it will sideline him for the rest of 2025. It was really a great year for the 19-year old youth academy product and now OC will have to find another right back from within their own ranks.
There are eight games remaining in the regular season and Orange County are 9th in the Western Conference with 29 points through 22 games played. Of those eight games remaining in the season, all but one are against teams currently above their respective playoff lines. As has always been the case for 2025, Orange County is only four points behind the third place team in the West. So while it is true that every single win moving forward can nearly double OC’s chances of the postseason, at the same time, a loss can be truly catastrophic. Orange County got a bit of a gift last week when Bryce Jamison found the back of the net and earned a gritty road draw but OC are going to really play average to good just to sneak into the postseason; and they are going to do so with whoever is available.
THE OPPONENT - SAN ANTONIO FC
Through a series of events out of Orange County’s control, this game will be the first time all season that OC and San Antonio face one another. The first leg meant to be played in California got rescheduled to later in the season because of San Antonio’s involvement in the USL Cup. This is also a big reason why OC had one home game across a span of 7 weeks. If Orange County does not qualify for the postseason, the last four weeks would be a valid reason why.
San Antonio on the other hand needed a bit of a restart before 2025. The 2022 USL Champions capped off an absolutely dominant season with a respectable but disappointing second round exit, then really started to feel the fatigue when they missed the postseason altogether in 2024. Thus 2025 saw a new head coach and a relatively new lineup and it might have been one of the better possible outcomes. San Antonio has quietly had a strong season that sees them towards the top of the Western Conference cluster. They have also gone through the toughest opponents already in the season so do not be surprised if San Antonio hosts a playoff game.
San Antonio’s strength is in their offense where they will take a high number of shots on target. If there is one thing that could be better it would be the defense. For the most part the San Antonio strategy of defense is just to foul the other team and this shows too with San Antonio leading the league in yellow cards.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Jorge Hernandez while he was with LA Galaxy II was a constant thorn in the side of Orange County SC when that team was still in the USL. After their departure from the league, Hernandez went overseas to Belgium for one season. Then in 2023 he returned back to the US and signed with San Antonio FC where he was a part of the championship winning team. But Hernandez did not have the biggest of impacts on the stat sheets in either of his first two seasons with the club. That is not the case in 2025 where Hernandez has seen a return to form. In only 19 games played he has already reached double digits in goals with it being the first time since 2022. Hernandez is the statistical leader in most offensive categories for San Antonio FC with the biggest contributions coming in the form of goals and chances created. He ranks top 8 in both categories across the USL.
On the orange side of things, Tetsuya Kadono should be the poster child of what Orange County SC can offer to professional soccer in Southern California. The Irvine native is in his first season with the club at the age of 24 and has mostly been up to the task when called upon on the rare occasion. It has been Colin Shutler’s net for nearly the entire season but with his latest injury it gave Kadono both his first professional league appearance as well as first start in consecutive games. Kadono did well in his two appearances in the USL Cup, generating clean sheets in both of those games. Kadono also held Lexington to one goal last week in Shutler’s absence. Come time for the postseason OC do have a solid plan A and a plan B in net.
PREDICTED STARTING XI
Ciotta’s injury sucks but is not the end of the world for the backline. They are running a bit thin and the depth will really be tested down the stretch. To counter this both Dylan and Larry are expecting Pedro Guimaraes to switch sides of the pitch and be apart of the back four with Doghman, Miles and Benalcazar. As such the defensive midfield will be entirely made up of players who have less than 10 appearances with the club in Stephen Kelly and Malik Pinto. The front four remains about what we have seen for the majority of the season. Bryce Jamison is starting to heat up and perhaps he can continue his nice run of form. Also expect Colin Shutler to return to the net after his scary injury.
THE MATCHUP
The final Western Conference opponent for OC could not have come at a more opportune time with OC needing a victory and having to do so on the road. San Antonio needs to win to keep pacing the field while OC needs to win for every reason imaginable. The OC-San Antonio series is very evenly matched with OC holding a slight 2-game advantage across all competitions. As far as the postseason picture goes, if every Western Conference matchup ends in a draw and the Eastern Conference teams win their inter-conference games then OC could realistically end up 5th in the West come Sunday, or they can remain in 9th.
WHAT TO KNOW
Game - @ San Antonio FC (USL Championship)
When - September 20th, 5:30 PM PST
Where - Toyota Field (San Antonio, TX)
OCSC Form - DLDLW
SAFC Form - WLDDL
All-Time Series - 6-5-4 (15 Games)
TV - ESPN+, KCAL+
Pre-game pub crawl at Anaheim Packing District, watch the game at BXCR, Villains Brewing, or The Iron Press.