In the opening game of the USL Cup, Orange County were defeated 2-1 by El Paso Locomotive on Saturday evening. In a competition that heavily punishes teams who do not go perfect in the group stage, the road ahead for OC to make it to the knockout stage will be anything but easy. This tournament is likely not the main priority of the season for head coach Danny Stone and the lineup that was fielded was indication of that.
A good chunk of younger players got their first starts of the season, including both Tetsuya Kadono and Apolo Marinch.
Both teams in the regular season are off to great starts so this is a bit of a test match before the two sides meet again later in the year. While Orange County’s success has come from its defense, El Paso boasts a very strong offense. It would be a big storyline to see which focus would win out and OC, when they had 11 players on the pitch, held El Paso well.
Ultimately El Paso would see both the equalizer and the game winning goal both scored playing up a man. It was an interesting match that does generate a couple of questions for Orange County to answer.
FIRST HALF
The biggest storyline for Orange County going into this cup game would be who would we see in the starting XI. While Orange County’s last Open Cup game saw a fairly seasoned lineup, this was not the case Saturday night. Tetsuya Kadono got his first starts and minutes of 2026 in net alongside fellow players Apolo Marinch and Efren Solis. Noted first teamers like Brewitt, Hegardt, Kelly and War all were on the bench to begin the game.
The first half saw Orange County sit on their heels a bit as El Paso would hold the ball for majority of the first 20 minutes or so. The first big moment of the game would come in the 16th minute with El Paso’s Eric Calvillo thundering a shot past the far post from within the 18 yard box. El Paso would definitely have the better of the chances which we did expect to occur. However Orange County’s backline and Kadono would answer the call every time in the first half and did fairly alright in keeping the chances to not dangerous ones. Ousmane Sylla would get the only OC shot on goal in the first half that did force a tip save from El Paso keeper Abraham Romero (another former OC member) but the first half would end 0-0.
SECOND HALF
Orange County SC had held the highest scoring team in the USL to no goals in the first half. They would now carry some momentum into the second half and to everyone’s surprise it would be OC that would score first. Apolo Marinch would get on the end of a through ball would force Romero into a nice save. The rebound would fall back to Marinch who would put the ball into a dangerous part of the box where a diving Grayson Doody would open the scoring. It was a massive goal for Doody and Orange County and would be his first since returning from injury.
Orange County were still employing the youthful lineup and this ultimately would be about where the game would stop being fun. In the 56th minute, Kadono would make his biggest save of the game with a nice starfish save on a ball into the box. In the ensuing play Apolo Marinch would be caught with a high footed challenge and would see his second yellow of the match and subsequent sendoff. Marinch is still a very young player but ultimately both of his cautions would come on fouls nowhere near the box. His first caution in the first half would be on a similar part of the field. It is tough lesson to learn and one that would unfortunately have a negative impact on the game.
El Paso are now up a man and would score two goals in the final half hour of the match in essentially the same fashion. Only separated by 14 minutes, El Paso would shoot a long range shot that would take a deflection and beat Kadono. That is how El Paso tied the game and that would be the game winning goal. It was a product of the environment that OC put themselves in and El Paso would punish them for it. Being down a man did not help OC either and they would fail to generate any offense after the send off. A whimper to end the game.
OVERVIEW
Orange County punted this game from the get go. With the lineup that was fielded was a sign that this weekend would be a rest day. But for the weaker lineup fielded, OC was able to hold their own and get a lead. The match slipped away from them after the send off but OC with a healthy XI are a serious contender in the West. With the loss in this tournament, OC have now basically guaranteed 3 more gamedays where there is nothing to play for. There are positives to take from the match and really it is that OC can play with anyone with their best lineup. Orange County now returns to the regular season with a trip up to Sacramento.