Orange County have found a way to earn at least a point in the first three games of their 2026 season. They have done so with a pretty good defense that has only conceded two goals in four competitive matches.
OC has gotten their success in the USL with its defense which has often done just enough to cover up the lack of an explosive offense. This season the offense has been somewhat serviceable yet the fact of the matter is that of the six competitive goals scored, only one was by a forward.
This was a trend last season too where OC was getting goals from everyone across the field, but not so much from their forwards. This was not really an issue until the summer when the defenders and midfielders obviously stopped scoring at an alarming clip and the forwards still had not found their stride. This year OC would really like to avoid that conundrum, but will need all of the forwards to do more than the current average of two shots on goal per game.
OCSC are one of five remaining unbeaten teams in the Western Conference and now face another unbeaten team in Oakland. Oakland are currently off to the best start to a season in their club’s history after winning their first two games of the season. No, that is not a typo. They got a bit of a hiccup in their last game when they conceded two late goals to, perhaps disappointingly, draw against Phoenix Rising.
Orange County SC will look to continue improving their form away from home in 2026. Their first away game earned a point and this will be the last away game for quite some time as OC will begin play four of their next five games at home.
THE OPPONENT - OAKLAND ROOTS SC
Oakland is off to a great start in 2026 and there are a couple of different individuals to thank for this. We should first start with the off the pitch people and Oakland’s newest head coach Ryan Martin is bringing his success with him from Loudoun along with some of his friends. Oakland this season brought 3 Loudoun United players including former OC midfielder Tommy McCabe. This is barely even scratching the surface about the roster that Oakland have assembled. This is a team that still has the reigning golden boot winner, Peter Wilson, who ended 2025 on an absolute heater of a scoring streak.
While the offense for Oakland is quite potent, the defense is where they needed some improvement in. They ended 2025 tied for the most goals conceded with 52. So far it has somewhat been rectified but the aforementioned late game collapse against Phoenix was not amazing to watch. There is also something to be said that the two teams that Oakland did beat (New Mexico and Monterey Bay) are both winless on the year. In a way Saturday’s afternoon match up will be a good test for both teams.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Another one of the Loudoun transfers (besides McCabe) is that of Florian Valot who will be a good help in the distribution for Oakland. However he has yet to play this season. So we will look at the most in form scorer for Oakland in that of Wolfgang Prentice. Prentice hails from Redondo Beach but has been with the Oakland Roots system for a good while now. This season Prentice has scored two goals in three games on top of getting an assist as well. This is still a player about to enter the prime of his career.
On the orange side of things, Tyson Espy at just 16 years of age was the hero last week for OC scoring the game winning goal. The center back received a call up to represent the US U-17 National team. He joins fellow USA youth Jamir Johnson as the two OC players getting call ups to their national teams for the upcoming window. This does mean they will miss some time in the league, but Espy is very likely going to be the next big transfer for Orange County. His 2026 season has gotten off to a great start. Before scoring against Colorado Springs he had made two starts and has yet to seen any yellow cards. Expect Espy to be a massive focal point on the back line while he’s here.
PREDICTED STARTING XI
Orange County on top of random injured players here and there will now get to deal with national team call ups. But Garrison Tubbs is once again available after serving his red card suspension against Colorado.
As Johnson and Espy are on international duty, Tubbs and Zubak should slot in. Lyam MacKinnon has been the only OC forward to score a goal this season, so I think he will get the start up top. The midfield will likely see Nico Benalcazar move up, as he is too good of a player to be left on the bench.
The rest of the lineup will likely remain the same. Mohamoudou War at right back has been serviceable, but his starting role there might be limited once Grayson Doody returns from injury. We could also see Ousmane Sylla be featured in the midfield as he made his first appearance off the bench last week. Also of note: Garrison Tubbs wears number 16 not number 6.
THE MATCH UP
A budding rivalry for OC that they have had the slight advantage in since 2021. Orange County and Oakland have already checked off most of the boxes required. We have seen comebacks by both teams and meetings in both the postseason and mid-season tournaments. Orange County’s last visit to the Coliseum saw them knock out Oakland from the USL Cup with a 1-0 win. That win was just one of a whopping two road wins all 2025 for Orange County. Both teams have yet to see defeat this season but both teams will have doubts based on who they played. OCSC are looking to start the first five games of their season undefeated for only the second time in club history (the other being 2020 with no fans). Oakland are already on their best start to a season that can only get longer and longer. Saturday’s match will be a 5 pm start time locally.
WHAT TO KNOW
Game - @ Oakland Roots SC (USL Championship)
When - March 28th, 5:00 PM PST
Where - Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum (Oakland, CA)
OCSC Form - WWDD
OAK Form - DWW
All-Time Series - 8-1-5 (14 Games)
TV - ESPN+