Orange County Look to Continue Momentum
It was just what the doctor had ordered. Orange County in their 2-0 victory over San Antonio on Wednesday got two first half goals and to make it even better they both came from forwards. Lyam MacKinnon becomes the leader in goals and Bazini would open his mark to help Alex Rando earn his third clean sheet of the season. With just one loss to this point as well, OC find themselves on top of the Western Conference heading into matchweek #6 and can definitely stake a claim as to why they belong. It was a calculated effort on Wednesday evening that saw Orange County easily break down a tough San Antonio backline and the defense continue its very strong start to the season.
But for all the success that OC has had it has almost all come at home. Saturday’s matchup will be the first true away game of the season as they will travel to the heartland to face FC Tulsa, the reigning Western Conference champions. Tulsa for their sake have yet to replicate their success and through four games played have only been able to win just once. Orange County conveniently have faced a lot of teams who have gotten off to slow starts in 2026 with Tulsa being included. They have done fairly well so there is a good chance that OC can continue that. Orange County in their two away games have one win and one draw which is an area that they will need to improve from last season. If OC wants to be a successful team, they will need to win more away games.
THE OPPONENT - FC TULSA
FC Tulsa was this close to continuing the Western Conference’s streak of consecutive USL Champions. They had completely steamrolled the West and had done so as a team who was not always the most competitive in recent memory. FC Tulsa were a penalty shootout away from claiming their first league title in club history but would ultimately fall short to another team that was looking for its first club title. Tulsa for the most part did retain its roster minus one big piece. Top goal scorer Taylor Calheira departed in the offseason to Sporting Kansas City. I am not saying that Tulsa will not score goals without him but they currently have the second lowest goal tally in the West with just four goals through four matches. However they retained the rest of the lineup and added some big pieces as well. I do expect Tulsa to be a contender this season and believe they are just having a bit of a hangover so once they get their electrolytes they will be back.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Speaking of big pieces that were added to Tulsa’s roster, Alex Tambakis is a top 3 goalkeeper in the USL and has a new home in Tulsa. Tambakis is the definition of USL veteran goalkeeper having logged 240 career appearances in the league across four different teams. OC fans will probably best remember him from his time with New Mexico, the club with whom he has spent the most time with. This is the league leader in all time career saves and is in the competition for league leader in all time clean sheets. Tambakis will be playing behind a very strong defensive line as well and someone who is known primarily as a shot stopper should see more success come his way in 2026.
On the orange side of things, Alex Rando has had a good start to his Orange County career. If there was one issue with Orange County SC of 2025 it was easily the lack of clean sheets in games. Rando since coming on already has three clean sheets to his name and has been a consistent starter having been the pick in each of the 8 competitive games OC has played in. He has not been without fault and has had two costly goals that were his fault but he has been a bit of a surprise into just how consistent he has been. He has already made a handful of impressive saves as well, easily being a game changer in the matches against Oakland and San Antonio. The majority of Rando’s professional career has come with New York City FC II of MLSNP status but OC are his second USL Championship team. He was the main keeper for the 2021 Las Vegas Lights so he was used to getting shelled. Playing in front of a real backline has worked out so far.
PREDICTED STARTING XI
Unfortunately, OC have started to feel the impacts of some injuries but they were able to overcome those on Wednesday. San Antonio did not play well at all but the lineup that OC went out with was a very strong one at that easily dispatching a good team.
So why fix something if it is not broken? The centre back pairing of Brewitt and Tubbs offer two bruising presences that have done well clearing the balls. The swiss army knife Benalcazar has stepped in for an injured Doghman with War on his opposite side. The midfield has been the most consistent third with both Hegardt and Palomino locking down the flanks. Both MacKinnon and Bazini find the net and will be rewarded for it with more starts. OC found success with direct attacks down the middle of the pitch and we will see if Tulsa allows it or not.
THE MATCHUP
FC Tulsa had their best season in club history in 2025 and it is a club who have not always been successful. The all-time matchup between the two clubs is a good example of this with OC doubling the win total over the Roughnecks/Scissortails. In fact Orange County was one of the few teams to arguably outplay Tulsa in 2025 having gotten the win in OC and being unfortunate to lose the return leg. Looking at FC Tulsa they will look at Saturday as a good opportunity to kick start their season. So far their only win has come against Las Vegas and that needed 3 goals. They will also have the scheduling advantage having last played last Saturday. OC are coming into this game off a short week so we could see some new faces in the lineup but with Stone there is no way of knowing. FC Tulsa were one of the few USL teams to advance to the third round of the Open Cup and they got paired with St. Louis City with that match taking place on Wednesday so we will see where their priorities lie.
WHAT TO KNOW
Game - @ FC Tulsa (USL Championship)
When - April 11th, 5:00 PM PST
Where - ONEOK Field (Tulsa, OK)
OCSC Form - WLLWW
TUL Form - WDWWD
All-Time Series - 8-3-4 (15 Games)
TV - ESPN+