Orange & Black With Important Early Season Tilt
An important note to make about Orange County SC in what we call the modern era of the USL is that OC are generally a very good team when playing at Championship Soccer Stadium. Saturday’s early season match will be the club's 150th competitive match at the venue they have called home since 2018. In those 149 matches they have a 74-36-39 record and more importantly are now going on 12 matches unbeaten at home dating back to last season. From the great seasons to the long ones, OC knows how to earn points at home.
Saturday’s matchup will be the first meeting of the year between OCSC and Colorado Springs who have both been long-time Western Conference stalwarts. They both have had their fair share of ups and downs as well with one USL title to each their names. For two clubs who have a lot more in common than different their 2025 seasons were pretty similar too. Both teams went into the postseason as the last two seeded teams and both saw disappointing title defenses.
2026 however pits both teams against one another quite early in the season and both teams going into the third week of the USL season undefeated and coming off 3-0 wins in their opening US Open Cup match. Colorado Springs have gotten a win in the regular season though with their 3-2 victory over Las Vegas last week. Saturday evening is a great test for both teams and will be a bittersweet reunion for one team.
THE OPPONENT - COLORADO SPRINGS SWITCHBACKS FC
While OC’s first two games of the season were defensive chess matches, Colorado Springs’ two games were scoring contests. The Switchbacks are 1-1-0 on the season with a draw against El Paso and the aforementioned win over Las Vegas. Both games saw Colorado Springs concede twice in the game but their offense has exploded for five goals across both games; eight if we include their open cup game. This is a club who will look quite similar on the pitch but are under new management. Colorado Springs new manager was an inside hire and their former Technical Director in Alan McCann. He is in charge of a roster that remains pretty consistent from last season. Of course there were some pieces added but Colorado Springs are likely going to be a fringe playoff team who will likely get in off experience alone.
If anything from the first two games are an indication then OC’s backline will have their work cut out for them as Colorado Springs will be a team that pressures high up the pitch and scores their goals from that. I gave praise to Orange County’s overall defense the last couple of weeks but this will be the first true test.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
The elephant in the room is going to be addressed. Saturday marks the return of Colin Shutler to Orange County since moving to Colorado Springs. Colin Shutler was the OC goalkeeper for 4 seasons and in that time became the all-time leader in basically every stat for goalkeepers. His 94 appearances with the club put him 6th all time and nearly doubled that of the next OC keeper behind him. The only goalkeeper to score a goal in club history was initially brought in as a backup keeper during the 2022 season. Once he won the starting spot in the middle of the 2022 season he never looked back. Earning 33 clean sheets in those 94 appearances, OC had made the postseason in all 3 seasons that he was the starter in. The only keeper who can say that. It was a surprise when it was announced that he was signing with Colorado Springs. This season has has only made one start in the regular season so he has not earned a starting role yet. Nonetheless Colin Shutler should be known for his outstanding play with OC during his time here.
On the orange side of things, Chris Hegardt is becoming the motor for OCSC and is looking for his first goal of the regular season. He did get his first goal of 2026 on Wednesday in the Open Cup with a nice touch and dribble past the keeper. Hegardt is really known for his box to box style of play but can contribute offensively. Last season in 2025 was easily the best season of his career when he logged personal bests in appearances for OCSC in his first full season. When Hegardt plays well the rest of the team follows suit and expect him to have a lot more responsibility.
PREDICTED STARTING XI
Still a number of injuries that OC are pushing through and now they will get their first game without a player due to suspension. What we do know is that Garrison Tubbs will not be available due to his red card from last week. With no players expected to return back to injury yet then we will likely see a very similar lineup.
Tyson Espy should return to the lineup. It will be noted that OC did field a very experienced lineup on Wednesday so some players could see a rest however I am certain that this game would be considered more important. So everything will remain the same to what we have seen. Center back depth could be called into question this game and we will likely again see Nico Benalcazar move back to the backline later in the game but he is too good of a player to not start. Marcelo Palomino will also very likely start in the midfield instead of Partida but that is really the only question mark.
THE MATCHUP
A very even matchup historically with over 20 games played and OC holding a slim lead in the all-time series. Add in two playoff matches that were split between the two teams and you get a bit of an underrated rivalry. Last season OC got the better of the Switchbacks with a sweep across a 4-1 aggregate. The month of March and early April will see OC play a lot of games and a lot of them being played at home. A strong run of form would do wonders down the road and perhaps alleviate some pressure felt when OC eventually does have to go on some brutal road trips later during the summer time. Orange County have been able to score in each and every game but have only seen a goal scored by a forward only once this season with Lyam MacKinnon’s goal during the opening matchday.
WHAT TO KNOW
Game - vs Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC (USL Championship)
When - March 21st, 7:00 PM PST
Where - Championship Soccer Stadium (Irvine, CA)
OCSC Form - WDD
COS Form - WWD
All-Time Series - 11-2-9 (22 Games)
TV - ESPN+