If a tree falls down in the forest and no one is around to witness it, does it still make a sound? If two USL Championship teams play each other but nothing happens, then did the game really happen? Perhaps that is a bit too harsh for Orange County’s fifth clean sheet of the regular season in what was their 8th game. They still find themselves a top of the Western Conference and and are doing so with a style of play that is very consistent for getting positive results. But there is a part of me that does wish for a bit more creativity and tenacity when in the final third but I feel like every fan will say that.
Jamir Johnson
Orange County SC and Lexington SC played to a 0-0 draw on Saturday night. It was the third consecutive draw between the two clubs who have yet to really figure one another out. For Orange County it was enough to keep them on pace with San Antonio and El Paso and they once again put on a defensive masterclass. However the underlying stats behind the match do not make for impressive soccer.
FIRST HALF
It was the very standard lineup from Danny Stone and will likely be the first team lineup moving forward. Rando in net behind a backline of Benalcazar, Tubbs, Brewitt and War from left to right. The midfield was very much the same with Hegardt, Kelly, Partida and Palomino looking to service balls up top to Lyam MacKinnon and Jamir Johnson. Minus Ryan Doghman at left back this is what we have seen for the majority of games and it is a very good defensive lineup.
This defensive lineup got a golden opportunity to start the match when in the third minute a Benalcazar weighted ball towards the middle of the field found Johnson in space. Jamir’s shot would be from outside the box but it did force a nice save to start the game. Orange County and Lexington would mostly spend the time feeling one another out. The next great chance for OC would come off a corner when Garrison Tubbs got on the end of a corner kick but was only able to head it right at the keeper. The chances came to be about even for both teams with Lexington forcing Rando to make a nice tip save in the dying minutes of the first half. It would go to the break 0-0.
SECOND HALF
The second half would actually see Lexington start to get some more momentum in the match. This is a team that has a bunch of USL veterans and it did show a bit this game. Lexington was not able to do much of anything with the ball in the area of creating dangerous chances but they were able to frustrate Orange County for the entirety of the game. The metrics do show this too. The match ended with OC and Lexington perfectly splitting the possession numbers 50-50. Orange County may have had more shot attempts in the game (nearly doubling up Lexington in that regard) they only forced the keeper Semmle into one good save.
Orange County in the last 5 minutes of the game had a couple of promising set piece opportunities yet could not cash in on any of them. This all happened after the subs had come on and it was definitely subs made with the intention of going for the win. Ethan Zubak would get a good chance but sky his header and Sylla was able to apply pressure with his dribbling. However OC are not clinical enough up top to only need 2-3 chances a game to score a goal. This game was a perfect example of it but the defense was very tight and it results in a point.
OVERVIEW
Teams would rather be good defensively then they would be offensively. Fortunately for Orange County is the fact that they are still very early in the season where they can remediate the scoring woes before it is too late. As much as we wish Ethan Zubak can be more consistent, he has been able to score double digit goals in his last two seasons with Orange County. Lyam MacKinnon does have 3 goals in 8 league games and has golden boot experience. There is plenty of time in the season to get warm. We knew that the midfielders and defense were not going to score goals at a rate of one a game and they are starting to cool down. It is now up to the forwards and wingers to force other teams into playing defensively. Orange County will get a one week break from the regular season and will now begin their USL Cup campaign next week at home against El Paso. This will be the second time for Orange County in this competition. Last season OC did win twice in the group stage but it came too late after losing the first two games.